BKKBike09

From linked article: "Her boyfriend recounted his own experience of being bitten by the same dog three months ago, requiring 18 stitches. His wound had not fully healed. It is understood that the pit bull might have been stressed from being chained and confined regularly. However, the owner has not responded to requests to cover the medical expenses." Put a bullet in the mutt before it attacks someone for the 3rd time.

From the linked article: "According to the report, Garcia has admitted selling the drugs to foreign tourists using the Telegram app. He says he purchased all the drugs, with the exception of the magic mushrooms, from a Black man in Chiang Mai, for 800,000 baht." Hmmm. Let's have a stab at who gave the tip-off.

That's a good point.

Yes, much improved. At LHR all the Star Alliance lounges are now open. IMHO United is the best, followed by Lufthansa, then SQ and Air Canada a distant also-ran. Top tip in BKK if flying biz Star Alliance is to use the SQ lounge, or the EVA one (depending which gate your, say, TG flight is leaving from and how much time you have). SQ now open to 11 pm. If flying BKK-LHR on the daytime TG flight, the SQ lounge is absolutely the best choice.

Maybe some years back but these days I think all the big private hospitals - or at least any one big enough for an Opthalmology Dept - should have it.

I Googled the Thai for Visual Field Test + Khon Kaen and Bangkok Hospital KK / KK Ram Hospitals both have the equipment: เครื่องตรวจลานสายตา (Computerized static perimetry) https://www.bangkokhospitalkhonkaen.com/th/center/แผนกจักษุ เครื่องตรวจวัดลานสายตาอัตโนมัติ : Automated Visual field Analyzer http://www.khonkaenram.com/th/services/clinics-and-centers/eye-center

It's a pretty common test so I'd have thought a big hospital in KK / Udon / Ubon would be able to do it.

On eye pressure generally - don't obsess over it. This seems pretty good guidance (I put in the blue highlighting): Raised eye pressure – how to know if there is a problem Most people have an eye pressure that measures between 10mm and 20mmHg. However, this number can be lower or higher and still be fine for your eye. Normal pressure is said to be less than 21mmHg, but the number can be higher and your eye still be normal. Ocular Hypertension (OHT) means raised pressure (over 21mmHg) but no damage to the nerve and full visual fields. If the pressure in your eye is over 21mmHg then you may be told you have raised pressure. If it less than 30mmHg you may not be advised to have treatment, as long as everything else is healthy with your eyes and your general health. If you have a family history of definite glaucoma you may want to consider starting pressure-lowering treatment. Only a small number of people with OHT develop glaucoma over the following five years This means you can decide to have a regular examination of visual fields once a year or every two years. As long as your visual field is full and your nerves are unchanged in appearance, then you are fine at that time, but further checks are sensible. There are exceptions and some people have pressure less than 20mmHg, yet still develop glaucoma, which confirms that glaucoma is about more than just pressure in the eye. Normal pressure is the pressure at which no damage occurs to the nerve. For some people this is as high as 30mmHg. The higher the pressure the more likely that, in time, damage will occur to the eye and vision. Below is a table to help you describe what the level of pressure means. https://www.drray.co.uk/eye-conditions-treatments/raised-eye-pressure/

I'd suggest getting a visual field test done - specifically one that tests for glaucoma. You stare (one eye at a time) at a fixed spot and click a little button whenever you see a dot of light that seems to appear randomly at different spots close to / further away from the point of focus. Normal eye pressure is basically under 20 mm Hg. According to this info from Moorfields Eye Hospital (about as good an authority as you can get), "Eye pressure can vary by as much as 6mmHg during the day and this can be more common in glaucoma patients". https://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/All day measurements of eye pressure .pdf Good luck.

EVA is my hands-down favourite for all round quality of offering, although these days it's too much if I'm paying. Premium Eco is pretty good, too (but getting very expensive). Of the Star Alliance offerings to LHR TG comes next - as long as again I'm not paying full fare. ROP Gold status upgrades / mileage upgrades for me. I'd never pay full-fare biz on TG though: just came back from UK and while flight out was on a new 777 (pretty nice), flight back was on a very tired 777. No USB charging points or little cubby holes to store things. Any airline which splits biz into two sections (which is most of them) you want to be in the front section because you'll get better pre-departure service for sure. Rear section often has the whole plane boarding through it, which makes it very hard for cabin crew to offer much service (which they probably like!)

FWIW while glaucoma is often associated with elevated eye pressure, it is not the only defining symptom. It is possible to have normal IOP and still have glaucoma. The best test to get is a visual field exam, which any decent hospital will be able to do for you. IOP also varies during the day (I forget if it's higher in pm or morning).Also, if you've ever had laser eye surgery to correct short sight, your IOP may under-read because the cornea is thinner than normal, so less resistant to the puff of air from the eye pressure measurement machine. Those puff of air machines also aren't as accurate as the old-fashioned way in which numbing drops are put in the eye before the doc uses a physical probe to mechanically measure pressure. If you want an accurate reading, ask the doc to do this (although same under-read caveat applies if you've had some types of laser surgery).

No, it is not a grey area...foreigners are not permitted to own firearms in Thailand. Yes, it is a grey area although, as per my comment, outside Bangkok it's very challenging and even in Bangkok these days it may not be possible. You also chose to ignore my comment "the key requirement was always to have a tabian ban because that means having a 13-digit Thai ID number and a work permit, so basically meaning people with Permanent Residency". You've changed your tune in subsequent posts to accept that foreigners with PR were / are permitted to own firearms in Thailand. A foreigner with PR is a foreigner. I imagine you'll respond to this post by telling me that the law changed in 2017 and that since then foreigners have not been able to obtain permits for firearms. The law, in fact, has not been changed: the proposed amendments have never been gazetted and so remain just that, proposed amendments. Foreigners with PR continued to be able to apply for a firearm permit (and I know a number of successful applicants). However since the Siam Paragon shooting all permit issuance in Bangkok has been under intense scrutiny, hence my comment "even in Bangkok these days it may not be possible". As per my original comment it has always been very challenging for foreigners to obtain permits outside Bangkok. In the provinces it is down to the local District Chief (Nai Amphur). Many of them don't approve applications for Thais, let alone foreigners. To return to the OP: if this foreign fool had a permit in his name issued in Phuket, it would not have been issued by the police. If anything was 'signed by a local policeman' it may have been the character reference letter that is supposed to accompany each application: said letter however needs to be signed by a Pol Lt Col or higher rank (or civil servant C5 and above). If it turns out that the foreign fool had some piece of paper signed by a copper saying "this man is allowed to have this gun" or whatever, that would not be a legal permit. So, yes, gun ownership by foreigners is a grey area.

This is one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard of. He had a permit, was it in his name or his wifes name I wonder? Does it matter? What if my wife had a gun with a permit - is that mine too? The permit(s) were almost certainly in his wife's name. If he was dumb enough to keep a handgun in his car, then doesn't matter whether it was in her name or his name, there'll be charges of unlawful carry of a weapon in public and - if the registered owner of the gun isn't in the car at the time - charges of unlawful possession. If the guns were in the house then it's a grey area: if the house or the rental contract isn't in the name of the registered owner of said guns, then I can see police charging for unlawful possession. Gun permits don't actually specify the location where the guns are to be kept but it is implied that it will be the registered owner's address as per their ID card/tabian ban, which is put on the permit. Since his wife isn't from Phuket likely that the address on the permits was another province. (As an aside, the penalty for failing to advise a change of address is only THB 500 ...) The fact that the article talks about carry charges suggests guns were in a vehicle. Gun ownership by foreigners is a grey area: outside Bangkok it's very challenging and even in Bangkok these days it may not be possible. The key requirement was always to have a tabian ban because that means having a 13-digit Thai ID number and a work permit, so basically meaning people with Permanent Residency.

The UK currently does a pretty good job allowing illegal migrants to stay and do pretty much what they please.

Doubtless a weapon purchased through one of the Ministry of Interior schemes to provide 'cheap' guns [50K for something like a CZ 75 vs 90K in a gun shop] to state officials and others of similar ilk.

"she proved a puny plaything in the mighty grip of Fate" - love it.

If this was shortly after take-off not sure why the Captain didn't immediately return to SVB or divert to the nearest suitable airport. Keeping a demonstrably violent passenger un-restrained until arrival in London 12 hours later (or Dubai 5 hours away) doesn't sound particularly good from an aircraft safety perspective.

Does your wife speak to your kids in Thai? That is important. It doesn't matter if the kids speak back in English. Unless your wife speaks English absolutely fluently, she is not helping them. Even if her English is grammatically perfect, she should still speak to them mainly in Thai. There are some good Thai-only (medium of instruction) schools - in Bangkok, Thawsi in Phrakhanong is one of them. Our daughter went there Por 1-Por 4. Then went to Int School. Her Thai however is still only okay, although she gets the cultural side of things. She reads well but her vocab is pretty basic. If your kids don't want to be civil servants then Thai fluency, especially reading/writing, becomes less important.

Maybe the PM should ask the Finance Minister what he thinks. Oh. wait. The PM is also the FM ...

He runs the risk of each note changed being treated as a single offence ie change 5 x 200 EUR notes = 5 individual counts of currency fraud. Then factor in any other previous transactions that come to light, which would be additional offences. Thai 'justice' system doesn't allow for pleading to aggregate multiple offences into one count. And if he changed any in a difference province, that is a separate judicial process that starts after case in Phuket is concluded and any time has been served.

Ah, good 'ol USDT. The launderer's friend. Not of course that I'm suggesting this guy had that amount of USDT for anything other than legitimate reasons.

Or Version 2: At the interview... Q] turn the key, does it start ? A] Huh? Q] Don't worry, you can learn on the job. you got the job, start today.

The servicing isn't free if you miss the interval by more than a month. Meaning if 12-month service is due on 15 Jan, you have until 15 Feb to get it done free. Can also take it in up to a month early. Outside that, it's paid (not that the cost is very high). It can also be a bit of a palaver to get a service appointment, compared to Honda, say. With Honda I'd always just ring them and say 'I want to bring car in on X day to be serviced' and that was that. With BYD (2 dealerships) I was told next available date was in a week, on a weekday. Not a big issue but I can see certain dealerships getting very busy as they sell more and more cars.

A point to note is that not all BYD dealerships have accident repair facilities. So if you ever have a fender bender repair might be a little more involved than say with a Jap car. After some dozy tw@t rear-ended the Atto last month, the dealer I bought from in BKK originally wanted me to take it to their repair shop in Pathum Thani, 40km or so from where I live. Ended up taking it to another BYD dealership in Ramkamhaeng Soi 5,263 or something (BYD CG near Ram 150'ish) - still about 20 km from home. However, they did a good job of repairing. It was a heavy shunt.

Short answer. No. Longer answer. Faster you ride, the more you'll feel bumps. Tyre pressures (and also the tyres themselves) and shocks make a difference. Seats can have padding added. Standing legs bent makes a difference. I have an ADV at the moment; used to have a PCX. Both pretty comfortable.