ToS2014

..."Nothing is impossible here. Absolutely nothing. And when I see vans taking over when I'm doing 120/km, driving on the other lane, I just slow down to avoid being involved in something terrible."

Well said, can apply to almost any situation in Thailand, not just the driving! On a side note, how big was the van(?)... carrying 17 people??? My wife says the buzz word every time she sees something crazy..."Amazing Thailand"

Another waste of life. very sad.

A bus "parked" on the fast lane at 2am in the night.

Recipe for desaster.

Have you ever seen flashlights, breakdown triangles. reflectors in this country?

Very rare if at all!

Its a madhouse.

I never drive in the night overland except for an emergency.

Sporadic unavoidable 16 km home rides from the district town in the dark is just enough for me.

I stare to the dark hoping to see "the unlighted object" before I hit it.

I almost got killed when a speeding pick up truck in the city did a red light and caught my pick up sideways.

It happened at six o' clock in the morning on my way to work. I was unconscious for a few hours, car totally damaged and I had serious injuries at my spine, three broken ribs, various stitches, etc..

It took two companies 16 !! months to fix the car and when I got it back the almost impossible happened.

I took a shortcut to my wife's village, with almost no traffic. On the other lane was a tractor with a trailer attached, as it was rice harvest.

I saw the guy on a Honda CBR 150 driving pretty fast, thought it would be time to hit the brakes, but the guy just didn't see the vehicles on his road. Nothing else within a distance of about 5 km.....

I don't think a very good stuntman could do the same stunt without serious injuries. The guy drove on one ramp of the trailer, the guy and the motorcycle became airborne and the bike was heading towards my windshield.

No time to think, but I did the right thing and hit my brakes, so that the bike only hit my front and the very massive bumper. The guy flew over both vehicles and landed on his freaking feet.

When the cops finally arrived and I had to drive my Pick up to the cops, as all other vehicles had to be there until an agreement could be done. I wanted to shoot somebody, to be honest.

The guy who'd caused the accident then started lying that the tractor had no light on, but it wasn't dark when the accident happened.No way to play witness, so I didn't get involved, as I had nothing to do with the accident.

He really wanted all damages at his bike payed by the owner of the tractor, who's a pretty cool guy. He even offered the guy to split the damage at my Pick up truck with him and then see who's fault it was.

But the guy was a real freak and didn't participate, which meant that all vehicles had to stay at the police station of a little town until all was cleared. My car was sitting for two weeks at the police station, then the tractor owner gave me the 10 K, which was estimated by some Mitsubishi guys.

Sorry for being off topic, feel sorry for all who're involved in this terrible accident and hope that the deceased will rest in piece. And a speedy recovery for the injured ones.

Knowing how good some hospitals here really are, regarding real emergencies, I feel very sorry for those who might suffer a long time.

From that time on when I saw a flying motorcycle, I've changed my way of thinking completely.

Nothing is impossible here. Absolutely nothing. And when I see vans taking over when I'm doing 120/km, driving on the other lane, I just slow down to avoid being involved in something terrible.

Have a safe trip!!!-

Looks like the guy had a nice nap!

I simply cannot wrap my head around why humans want to spend money on measures to (virtually) stop a drought. The more 'schemes' that I see during my stay in Thailand the more I tend to think it's governance leans toward socialism. Money will never affect or effect Mother Nauture!

It is interesting to note that most of the posts were aimed at the lady side of the faithful discussion. The last time I checked, it takes two to tango. I wonder how many boys are really faithful? Perhaps it is about equal... the number of girls and boys who seek the 'spice of life'.

I feel some may be missing a point on how well trained bank personnel are in Thailand. First, if I were to walk into any bank in USA/GB/Oz/etc and ask for a loan, the teller would have no idea, and better yet simply cannot 'give' me a loan. All my loans were completed by specialized bank employees who's job is/was specifically around loans. On the flip side, most tellers in America know the office or the individual(s) who can survice a loan so at least they can point to 'someone'. It appears in LoS that if a person doesn't know something the answer is no vice I'll have to contact my supervisor.

Play, rewind, play...same news, different day. Oh, and the pointing out the obvious (in the picture) just brings a bit of a smile to an unfortunate event.

I bet most of the folks that hold a grudge against LoS forget why they relocated here in the first place. That is, it's easy to focus on 'what I have now', i.e. my current situation, rather than the reason(s) that pushed them to relocate in the first place. For me it's still easy, I hear dogs in USA and many of the annoyances that I have here in LoS; however, my tax bill is literally zero compared to living in USA. Will I stay until the end...dunno

On a side note, if you plan to rent a condo long term, that is longer than your two week stay, A) you will probably save a bit of money on the monthly rental; and B, you will be responsible for paying the electric and water. Those bills could be due when your two week work cycle begins. Just something to think about...as your immigration/visa issue really isn't one. Happy travels

As an old Air Force retiree your post brings up an old adage...flexibility is key...to almost anything dealing with visas and immigration. Hope your personal journey has enlightened those that will undoubtedly follow.

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I hope that all the 1,600 particularly dangerous prisoners will stand in line to "run a train" on this scumbag.

Agreed. However, the problem isn't only the sick, twisted scumbag. It takes parents and the pimps to abuse the kids as well. IMHO, they too should also be forced to purchase a long train ride.

My school, will leave it unnamed, located in Jomtien, had already changed the seat time requirement from two times per week (2hrs per) to four times per week (1hr per). Technically the same amount of time, yet the increased hassle of attending four days for only one hour. I'm not working legally or illegally and was really attempting to learn Thai. It just appears that all the new rules affect not only those abusers but those of us who really wanted to abide by the 'old rules'.

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Why dont govts balance their budgets and let the currency fall where it falls. Markets do work.

Theres a hot babe on cnbc who think quan. easing to the umpteenth degree has worked.in usa....lol(shes orgasmic when touting obama). All its done is make rich people richer.. Nothing to help the economy as a whole.

You want economic growth make govt smaller.

I absolutely agree. With the new give away on the table...that is 'free' college to all, I just wonder how that potential new government program will morph into a multi billion dollar never ending hole. It simply amazes me that people think that anything for 'free' is truly free. An old wise man (my father) once told me long ago that anything that is given by the government must be taken from someone first. This is mostly pointed at the ever expanding US government's 'free' programs...education, health, the list never ends, nor does the ever increasing size of the deficit. So too it appears that this comment can be pointed to other states social welfare programs all around the world. The shining light should be pointed that these social programs, created by those elite scholars are decidedly pointed at the poor and not so scholarly...for their vote...so the perpetual wheel keeps turning it seems.

I thought the opposite !

+1...It seems quiet-slow to me.

very quiet

in the market in Jomtien

there were 4 som tam makers

no there is 1

this is definitely a sign that tourist numbers are down

Interesting observation. Perhaps the three som tam makers realised that tourists don't eat the Thai speciality...that is only their GF's!

The US spends more on it's military than the next 12 largest countries combined!!! Just shy of 1 trillion dollars. They could half that amount and would still spend far more than any other country.

If they did this (and they will not) they could have their massive deficit under control in less than 2 decades instead of watching it spiral out of control.

Many Americans would never stand for this though. They are happy to take money from education, avoid health care reforms etc etc.

They want a smaller government with less taxes but want to spend a trillion dollars a year on defense.

I just don't get it.

I personally was shocked to see how the divide in discretionary spending and non discretionary spending in the US has flipped. In decades past discretionary spending, think in this case spending on national defence or the DoD, far out stripped non discretional spending, think social programs that when past are written seemingly in stone. As government passes more social programs non discretional spending will continue to eclipse discretional spending. Non discretional spending is now 65 percent of the budget; 50 percent of that mandatory spending is on various social security programs, while another 39 percent is on "...avoid[ing] health care reforms etc etc".

Yes, an argument can be made that the US spends quite a bit on its defense, currently 55 percent of discretionary spending. However, it would behove those that like to bash the US and its military that is does do quite a bit of good deeds, one of those good deeds are to hunt those that would like to take freedoms away from those who question the DoD's budget.

For a bit of a better background on how the US spends, and more to the point on discretionary and non discretionary spending check out the cited percentages from this link, one of many...

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/

One last point that would be interesting...I wonder what the combined GDP is for the "next 12 largest countries combined". Then compare the percentage of GDP to military spending between all countries. Would be more of an 'apple to apple' approach to the argument.

No appointment required for Affirmation, takes about 1-2 hours.

Translation then required at about 500 baht.

You take both to the MFA at Chaeng Wattana and get them certified.

I think you really need to do a bit more research !

555 thanks for that , i been to the british embassy but just wasnt sure what do do after that !!! can the embassy visit and visit to the mfa be done in one day??

thanks again for all help

It's truly an amusement, scary as it is, to watch most Thai's drive. Have you ever watched one attempt to park their auto at the mall or store? Most attempt to back into their parking space. It takes what seems an eternity for them to get out of the traffic lane! I just wonder how the caution on backing up began, and, more importantly, when will the caution begin when driving forward?...I'm not holding my breath

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How can the parents of a 24 year old force him to anything??

Hope he enjoyed his short time of freedom!!

What a sad waste of a young life.

Could it be possible that the 24 yr old 'youth' didn't have a job and his parents were his bank roll? I would then venture to say that his parents would have some sway in the young man's life. Any ways, RIP. Any suicide is a permanent fix to a temporary problem!

Too funny to see Thai's scamming themselves. Typically I see stories where the Thai's focus their efforts on us farangs.

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300baht at jontien for one, 500 baht for two

I can confirm. Additionally, its quite painless at the Jomtien Immigration office.

To say it's harassment is a stretch; especially for one who has lived in Thailand for sometime. As I have lived here less than a year, I am still learning many new lessons. One such lesson is that not wearing a helmet will cause your license to be confiscated until the fine is paid on Soi 9...The receipt shown to the police officer will easily retrieve the license. Police check points are a simple fact in Thailand. If one has the required docs, license and 'hat' then mai bpen rai...

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Wars in the future, will be fought over water. It is a precious resource!

While this (wars in the future will be over water) has been propagated for a long while, I tend to agree with an author who has a differing perspective:

Water is an endless source of controversy. However, that is a world away from suggesting that water is, or could become, a key cause of military conflict. Water disputes, to the contrary, are generally characterised more by heat and noise than by military action. But within the current world order—with the USA hegemonic, international institutions intrusive, and the global political economy under the sway of a powerful anti-statist ideology—it is hard to imagine a water wars scenario ever coming to pass.

While it is technically true that LoS was never colonizied, it was heavily influenced by Western powers during the colonization period. It remained a buffer zone, if you will, between the Brits (in Burma and Malasia) and the French (in Laos, Cambo, and VN). A lot of people think that colonization helped states progress. That may be true, but also can be endlessly debated. Remember the primary inputeus for Western powers to colonize other states in the period was to increase trade; basically for economic reasons and to stop other states from increasing their status.

Another reason why LoS was never colonized is that it manuevered itself, signed trade agreements with Western powers among others, to be aligned more with Western practices.

The question can be endlessly debated with good and bad examples. While LoS nieghbors were colonized, are they better off? What about the Philippines, colonized by the Spanish and U.S.?

Another tragedy. However if I get Alzheimer's I will check out early.

Just curious, if you get Alzheimer's how will you remember to check out early?

While I am new to posting I have been an advid reader for quite some time.

I recently, May 6, 2014, renewed my 1 yr license at the Chonburi 1 location. No test just the standard document requirements.