mathias24

Aren't there blood relatives of the murdered Thai woman who want to see justice served? A sister is mentioned. That's pretty screwed up if nobody other than the farang husband is bothered to act.

Don't be silly as Thais stick together in any situation. On top of that they will also be frightened to say anything in case they get the same treatment. As for 20,000B bail what a joke for such a crime should be 2,000,000B and if can't pay throw in jail

What can one say?

More European tourists ????? you could have fooled me with all the hoops you have to jump through to get a Visa in the first place. In Pattaya Immigration they have for some time got a checker watching the checker and still money passes over the counter. Corruption going down ????? I don't think so

Busy body tony. Thai have democracy the thai way. Nothing to do with farang; especially British.

Tell Blair to piss off back to the UK. He was not a lot of use their but to tell the Thai's how to run their own country to me is an insult. Yes their are problems here but slowly, slowly things appear to be getting a little better especially in terms of corruption. Still a very long way to go though

"so it is unnecessary to forward the DNA results to the British government"

so this basically confirms the tests were bullshit.

What did you expect and I agree 100% with you. If they have nothing to hide then get independant test from outside Thailand as we all know that they can generate any test results within the country. Money talks

As expected. The boys in brown will all want an exponential raise in salary. Catching two bad bribing motorists a day sounds fair enough... 20k wouldn't be too much. would it?

And that was what it was all about. Why take a bribe of 2-400B when you can screw the motorist for 10,000B

It is NOT just the traffic cops who take the bribes but the one's at the police station as well. I was told I needed to pay an officer 10,000B for him to do anything about an assault case and having given my statement he did NOTHING. Promised arrest of the person who assault me and after 3 months of chasing this officer up he still did nothing. Well done Nongprue police

Wish they would offer the same reward to citizens who report officers extorting bribes. Definitely could improve the median household income level in Thailand.

a couple of million baht and they will be free and sent back to Burma. Money here buys justice ??????

This tragedy is probably yet another example of below illustration.

Seems we can watch tourist numbers fall further .

Our travel agent said she had 27 people change plans since the murders took place.

Thailand is really going to feel the pinch soon

Did you say going to feel the pinch soon. Sorry look out there it IS feeling the pinch now.

in this day and age of jet setting monks owning their own private helicopters, having a fleet of cars as well as huge residences and land holdings it might be a good idea. For people that are supposed to avoid these "monetary" holdings and lead simple lives some certainly have avoided being what they are meant to be, this would really lift the lid on graft and corruption inside the monks and their private lives.

More like opening a can of worms..

About time a few more cans of worms were open instead of people being blinkered and looking the other way. Or don't you want to know the truth

Ultimately it depends on the cards daily withdrawal limit set by your issuing bank and the exchange rate of the day.

As for ATM machines they are usually set to a maximum 25,000 Baht

(sometimes 20,000) per withdrawal.

If your issuing bank limit is higher you can make multiple ATM withdrawals (plus 150 or 180 Baht ATM withdrawal fees per transaction) until you reach the cards daily limit.

Or as mentioned above you can go inside the bank and make a cash advance at a desk in there.

Just to add, you may sometimes get a message saying the withdrawal has been cancelled and to contact the issuing bank. Just try a different banks ATM machine as sometimes there appears to be glitches with that banks ATM system.

I have always found that my daily limit be it Thai bank or UK bank I am drawing on is 20,000B. As for having a message contact your issuing branch that has happened to me a couple of times and usually because you are drawing out more than normal and the bank are just doing a security check to see you are the owner of the card and it is not a stolen card. Keep up the good work is what I say to the banks

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

You're forgetting about all the people who run the reds. Nobody wants to be t-boned.

I am English and NOT a slow driver and in the UK I will always move away quickly when the lights turn to green. But beware here in Thailand when cars jump the red lights up to 10 seconds after the lights have changed to red. I suggest that those who make comments about slow to respond drivers should sit for 30 minutes at the lights on Sukumvit and Siam Country Club and count the number oof idiots jumping the lights on RED

Is it just the street prostitutes they are targeting or what about all the girl/boy bars in town which are only there to sell sexual sevices to the tourists or don't they count. Yes I agree the street walkers be they ladyboys or not should be taken off the streets, it's not all tourists that want to be challenged by these people but rounding them up and then charging a 100/200B fine is NOT going to do it.

Let's be honest they , the Thai's( government ) , don't want us here, we pump billions of Bhat into economy but all they want is for the ferang to go home and leave their wallet

Bars, restaurants and hotel bars to close at midnight in the New Year with NO more alcohol being served after that time or that is the rumour I have heard. So come to sunny Thailand and party through the night, I don't think so it what I have heard is true, so from the New Year go to bed at midnight and do not party through the night. Great place to come and can see Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam etc picking up the lost Thai holiday business

"Inconsistent economic performance prompts us to ask what has gone wrong"

Is the writer of this article a total idiot or what ? Where was he for the past 12 months ? Did he realize that a bunch of economical morons have played "shut down the country" for the past year or so scaring away in the process tourists and investors alike.

"Let's take a break and do some rethinking." Yes, that's a good advise ....

If what I have heard is true that they are in the New Year ordering all bars to close at midnight and even in hotels it will be illegal to sell drinks after that time then God help the tourist industry. How many people go abroad to enjoy relaxed opening hours or bars to be told at midningt go to bed as the entertainment is over with NO partying into the early hours. What idiot dreampt that one up

Double post sorry, but I still think the 'government' and immigration system has shot itself in the foot, leg and goolies by not creating a new visa for farang who can make ample amounts of moolah on the internet legally, it is easily done in many different ways, and it takes away no jobs from the oh so precious Thai work force, and the money goes straight into the economy. Why have they not addressed this properly?

I sell a couple of things on EBay, more a hobby than a finacial one, gives me something to do and buys a few beers now and then. Is that against the Law

How much do you want to bet that the Ladyboy will get away with it or maybe a 100B fine and the American will be deemed as to blame

Increase of 22% means nothing it is just numbers as 22% of ten say is nothing. Sort this country out, give tourists the confidence to return and then a 22% increase will mean somthing. I live in Pattaya and have never know it so quiet and businesses are closing every day of the week. One bar I use you could almost say would have 20-30 people any night of the week but now I go with a friend and lucky if 2-4 people at the bar. To the army I say carry on with what you are doing to eliminate corruption and restore the confidence of Europeans wishing to visit Thailand and then a 22% increase will be small change

I was in Pattaya at the end of July and it was pretty much deserted apart from Saturday afternoon at Central Mall ,when it was packed .....with Thais

I agree that these people were allowed to build their shops/homes on the beach but they knew it was illegal and payment to the corrupt police allowed this and now their time is up. I believe that these people should via legal be allowed to have a business on the beach but must be built to a proper standard and appropriate rent be paid to the local authority. I know when I go to the beach I like to have a beach chair and somone I can look to for drink and food. I think the army are doing a good job of trying to eliminate corruption from the scum bag police.. Build a proper shop/restaurant under the law and managed by the local authority then fine. Lets have the service on the beach we have all enjoyed but legal and NOT corrupt

My fellow sufferer, I feel so much for you.

I've got a lot of dogs around me, barking and howling all day and night.

Sometimes, nasty ideas come to my mind..........

Not clear if it is about the dogs or the neighbours

Also spoken to them many times, nothing happened.

We are heroes, we are sufferers, hope others never experience this nightmare.

why do they have dogs in the first place, just look at the number of dogs out that are NOT cared for in any way

I live in Pattaya and I agree with what they are doing in Phuket and that should do the same here. One of the problems is Thai's are used to setting up a business anywhere they think Look along the roads in town or anywhere and there they are with mobile food carts, they find a plot of land along a street and set up business. Trying to get up some of the side Soi's of beach road Pattaya is nearly impossible because of these mobile food , ice cream and drinks carts. Does anyone do anything Answer" NO because someone is getting a big back hander for looking the other way. That's Thailand for you but it is great to see since the coup that a clean up in many areas is happening and I do not just mean the beach topic but even amongst the Police and various other departments.

When you have to pay a fairly senior police officer a back hander just to take an interest in a crime and then at the end of the day does nothing except take statements, promise on numerous times over a period of three months to arrest and charge the offends of a serious assult and finally does nothing what can you do. I know this to be a fact as I was the one who was seriouly attacked and because the police sat on their arse I am now the one having to pay a lawyer to fight the case on my behalf which I would not have to do if the police had charged and arrested the person/s in the first place.

On a different note someone said paying the police a proper wage would help but I do not thing so because even if you gave them a 400% increase in salary they now are so imbedded in crime themselves they would continue to take bribes and earn even more money.Yes give them a proper wage and then monitor all their activities, check their bank accounts and where you find an officer with more money than he could earn legitametly then have an enquiry of how he/she had got all this money and when proven by ilegal means send them to jail for a long time and throw them off the force.

As for the top man at the RTP if he thinks he can clear up all this corruption by the end of the year he is living in cloud cuckoo land.

One day and NOT in my lifetime it may be possible to clear up a lot of corruption but never all.