OPG

Get your stories right, guys!

It's when conflicting accounts occur that people start wondering and putting two and two together.

Eg,why was the body disposed of so quickly?

actually truth be told I don't believe it either - a high value target like that is worth more alive especially when everyone thinks he's dead......................keep the feet for dancing

I think Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are alive and kicking in some secret international US prison.

- No pictures or proof of Bin Laden's death.

- Saddam was found hiding in a tiny hole in the middle of nowhere. He was captured, trialed and executed, but there was never any mention of capturing or killing his look alikes. Where are they and what happened to them? I think the Saddam captured, trialed and executed was a look alike and the real Saddam sits in a secret prison somewhere in the world.

It is very true that they are worth more alive then dead.

He should have played it safe and put the prostitute on "layaway"!

Damn...no fireworks on the train...why do they always have to take the fun out of riding the train! I'm leaving Thailand! LOL!!

I think all translations are done by google, which is why it's always so correct.

I find this very easy to solve...check CCTV.

As a Farang married to a Thai, I always queue up in the Thai line and never have a problem. Now to be honest, if I arrived at Heathrow and they offered me the chance to pay 2 quid to be processed through FastTrack, I'd take it in a heartbeat. I hate the queue's at Heathrow!

Way to go Burma. UK take note.

Actually, now that you mention it, very true! You would have imagined that the UK would have taken a stronger stance on this matter, but they've been aloof. As a matter of fact, when is the last time anybody heard news of any kind on the Investigative Group sent to Thailand from the UK? I haven't heard a peep; are they still in Thailand or did they sneak back to the UK? It seems that the burden of these murders has been left to Myanmar and it's making headway.

I have to agree fully with your short and to the point statement:

"Way to go Burma. UK take note."

BRAVO!

Leave Pattaya out of it...there's no congestion here. It's easier to leave your car at home and take your motorbike into town, but then you leave yourself open to potential injury from other motorists. Pattaya has grown so much and nothing has been really done to relieve any traffic congestion except to build the road that runs along the railroad tracks.

Any suicide is horrible, but this guy had to of had more issues. He stated that "he had run out of cash but he did not want to go home", so instead, he jumps out of a 27 story window/balcony... OK, there are many options he could have chosen:

1. Contact family or friends for a temporary loan.

2. If there wasn't any family or friends, then I have found that many people in Pattaya do have a heart and would have fed him and potentially even have put him up in a temporary room to sleep while he organized his thoughts and how he would proceed from that point on.

3. Contact the US Embassy and explain himself that he has no money, no passport, no family and or friends and how can they help.

These are just a few, but I'm certain that when times get tough, you go through stages...you feel sorry for yourself but eventually you come to grips with life and do something about it.

It's awful to hear of such suicides. Thailand is NOT for the weak. If you cannot control yourself, you will end up broke or worst. I stopped reading reading the paper in Pattaya or even Pattaya news sites because all you read about are rapes, suicides, murders. And the one that is found more often than not, are suicides. Tooooo many! I've never traveled through a country where I have read of so many suicides occurring so often (daily).

Very sad indeed. RIP

A snake coming out of the toilet really never crossed my mind before, but one day, the maid was cleaning one of our bathrooms and my wife heard a scream, so of course she runs over to the bathroom and finds a large snake on the bathroom floor while the maid is attempting to squeeze through a small window to escape the snake. I asked my wife...did she have the window open prior to this happening...her reply was NO. I asked, was the screen on the water drainage on or off...her reply ON. I asked, was the bathroom door open...NO. The toilet seat...YES. Well, since then I freaking hate going to any of our toilets, but it's a necessity. I do find myself opening the lid and then the seat just to make sure there isn't a snake within the grooves between the seat and the lid...I flush the toilet once and sit, but look into the toilet often as I don't want any surprises.

How safe do you feel when going to your toilet?

Back when I was single in BKK, I knew some girls and all of these attempted and successful rapes etc... brought back memories of how these girls protected themselves. They would almost never take a taxi if they did not personally know the driver and pay the driver(s) they used most often extra money to make sure they got where they were going...waited or came back to pick them up and to make sure they got home safely. This is back in the day, but I'm certain their safety tactics more than likely have not changed as they know how dangerous it is for a girl to be out alone. For men, it can be safe if you know what not to do, but there's a lot of quality tourists that come here thinking they are the King of the world because they make more money than others and stir up problems with excessive drinking and for the life of me I don't understand, but fighting over a working girl like she's the only fish in the sea etc...which promotes hatred from Thai Girls and the men they pay for protection and then you have the males who can have a good time, but understand the do's and don'ts of Thailand who are generally safe most of the time. It basically all comes down to knowing what and what not to do in Thailand, but in the 9 years I've been here, I've started to see big changes. I feel unsafe and many thoughts about moving have been running through my head lately and I really hate this. I found my paradise and felt at home; now the paradise I found is disappearing quickly and I don't feel at home any longer and thoughts of protecting my wife and daughter make me think it's better to move.

Thailand is becoming something awful and if the Thai Government wants to keep the slogan the "Land of Smiles", they'll have to go through the "Land of No-Tourists" until they can successfully tackle everything that Thailand has become and make sure that they can attract quality tourists in the future.

Are you sure that it's Thailand that has changed, and not just your perception of it?

My perception has definitely changed, but it's all due to the changes occurring in Thailand! You won't be able to get me on this...when I came to Thailand, I finally felt at home, but you would have to be blind to not see Thailand changing for the worst over these last 9 years, which is why like you said, my perception has began to change, but not for the reason you think...it's for obvious reasons that you seem to be blinded by.

Although I don't like to see too much police presence on the street, I'm from NYC (police state), I am mesmerized why you rarely, if ever, see a beat cop in Bangkok, especially in these tourist areas. Correct me if I'm wrong....has anyone here seen many?

For the Thai police, it is raking in money from checkpoints by

day, and drinking in karaoke bars at night. So no time to

do patrolling of the streets......

When I first came here a long time ago, I sort of had this sense that

there was an unwritten agreement between criminals and the police.

Meaning the criminals knew not to <deleted> with tourists, as that would

endanger a multibillion baht money flow. So if they wanted to rob

someone, best to stick with robbing Thai people. But somehow

that fear of the police has gone away. But as someone noted,

if drugs are involved then there is little thought process occurring...

Very True!

Let's call them "Quality Police" shall we... The criminals in Thailand are in one way or another associated by money or friendship with the "Quality Police". If the "Quality Police" raid someone's room to find gambling or potential drug dealing, it's because most likely the person in that room got on the bad side of someone they know who has an agreement with the "Quality Police". The "Quality Police" gets the tip off, their business associate or friend get's a small reward + they will overlook some of the bad things they do and when the "Quality Police" arrive at the room and find either of what I stated above, they will either take whatever money was found and or drugs and if they cannot do a further payoff, they will take them to the monkey house. By the time they have their court date, the case will be dismissed due to lack of evidence and they are back out on the street. Meanwhile, the "Quality Police" divi up what was taken and if drugs were involved, they begin distribution of these drugs through their business associate or friend and that friend or business associate once again makes a bit of money but the bulk of everything goes to the "Quality Police" and the cycle begins again and again and again and again infinitely...

You don't see the "Quality Police" walking their beat because they're too busy with their side work, which I have just written about above or as you say, at a karaoke bar spending others people's money.

They're absence in presence is definitely not due to being under-cover...that's for certain!

Sad but all of this is true, so how safe do you feel now?

Back when I was single in BKK, I knew some girls and all of these attempted and successful rapes etc... brought back memories of how these girls protected themselves. They would almost never take a taxi if they did not personally know the driver and pay the driver(s) they used most often extra money to make sure they got where they were going...waited or came back to pick them up and to make sure they got home safely. This is back in the day, but I'm certain their safety tactics more than likely have not changed as they know how dangerous it is for a girl to be out alone. For men, it can be safe if you know what not to do, but there's a lot of quality tourists that come here thinking they are the King of the world because they make more money than others and stir up problems with excessive drinking and for the life of me I don't understand, but fighting over a working girl like she's the only fish in the sea etc...which promotes hatred from Thai Girls and the men they pay for protection and then you have the males who can have a good time, but understand the do's and don'ts of Thailand who are generally safe most of the time. It basically all comes down to knowing what and what not to do in Thailand, but in the 9 years I've been here, I've started to see big changes. I feel unsafe and many thoughts about moving have been running through my head lately and I really hate this. I found my paradise and felt at home; now the paradise I found is disappearing quickly and I don't feel at home any longer and thoughts of protecting my wife and daughter make me think it's better to move.

Thailand is becoming something awful and if the Thai Government wants to keep the slogan the "Land of Smiles", they'll have to go through the "Land of No-Tourists" until they can successfully tackle everything that Thailand has become and make sure that they can attract quality tourists in the future.

I am from Florida, US and grew avocado, coconuts, pineapple and of course bananas. When you plant the "start" bury a large (a fist size) or two fish heads from the market and stand back! It will take a little time for the plants to discover this super nutrient. Your plants growing and producing rate will be astounding and organic and cheap. Trust me on this as Florida has nothing but ground glass for dirt.

Question: Did you mean to say to bury a large fish and if not, then what do you bury that is "fist size"? I had to assume you meant a large fish since you then went on to state "two fish heads". Furthermore, will this work on any plant or just the avocado tree and do you do this once in its life or several times a year? How deep should you bury the fish or fish heads and how close to the tree or plant?

Thank you

High as a kite. Look at the Brit in the picture...I think he's trying to also point at the hashish or maybe reaching for the pipe. The guy does not look 36, but I guess the affects of smoking ice over long periods of time will make anybody look like this guy.

Now seriously, the guy got caught with an illegal drug fine...he'll do his time for the amount found on him, but what I can't figure, is how they got him on intent to sell on a Class 1 drug (ice), which I understand holds a stronger sentence than the drug being used for personal use. It's not like the guy was found with a lot of ice; from this article, he had 2 bags; one consisted of powder and the other liquid and both added together brings it to just over 1 gram. What's he selling? As high as he looks in that picture, I'd imagine it was for personal use.

Anyhow, drugs are bad and he got caught...he'll do his time and more than likely will not learn his lesson since he looks like he's been on that stuff for too long.

So many things are wrong here.

-Jet skis should not be on any Phuket beaches, period. If this was enforced, the points below would be moot.

-All jet skis ridden require a Thai captains license, this Russian did not have one, the same as every other jet ski renter in Phuket. Why isn't Marine 5's boss enforcing existing laws on the books? The answer is rhetorical and it's all about the baht.

- Conditions were far too dangerous for the jet ski clowns to even consider renting them out.

-Why isn't there a better medical procedure used for conditions like this? Seriously taking the guy to Patong, then deciding to transfer to Vachira, really doesn't cut it. Why wasn't he taken straight away to one of the private hospitals? Ambulances should be stationed not more than 5-10 minutes away. This is a holiday island with first world prices for goods and services, yet 3rd world medical emergency services.

-Marine 5 boss calling this an "accident". No it's not an accident, it's a serious incident due to your dereliction of duty by not enforcing laws that are on the books for some reason unbeknownst to the general public. Shame on Marine 5 and it's lack of a backbone on the jet ski issue.

steelepulse - I totally agree with most of what you stated except for "All jet skis ridden require a Thai captains license..."

You can't be serious? Are you telling me that any tourist that arrives at a beach tourist destination must adhere to the laws of acquiring a Captains license before they can rent a jet ski to pass time on their holiday? It's like requiring tourists to acquire a Thai Motorbike license before they can rent a motorbike during their holiday stay; it's not going to happen and as much as we would all like EVERYONE to be properly licensed to handle any type of vehicle, it's not going to fly with the tourist...never, but on the balance of your statement, I fully agree with you. I don't necessarily put 100% of the blame on the operator since it takes two to tango and the Russian should have known better than to have chosen a time of rough conditions to enjoy himself. They shouldn't have rented it to him and he should have had better sense then to have rented it, but it happened and all we can say is RIP.

In the article they mentioned that the American's are keen to invest in Thailand because the PM's plan on tackling corruption etc... They should begin with tackling corruption at the Revenue Department. I remember about 2 years ago I had a long drawn out issue with the Revenue Department. My accountant organized and completed all of my companies paperwork to submit to the Revenue Department around February. I was expecting a hefty return due to the VAT I paid during construction of my office etc... I had several visits from the Revenue Department to my office and I had several meetings with them at their offices. The Revenue Department was trying to find anything they could to back out of having to pay me what they owed. In all honesty, up until April of that year, I had no clue that I was expecting a return, but man oh man what a pain in the ass it was to get what was owed to me. From April to December it was a constant argument with these people and 100% of the delay in payment was due specifically to the Revenue Department trying to either negotiate the amount that would be paid to me or payback for refusing to negotiate the money owed to me. They told me straight out at their office...this can all go away and you can walk out of here today with 30%. My smart ass response to them was why would I want to walk out of here with 30% of 100% of my own money. Well, you can imagine how angry they were so of course they stalled and continued trying to find ways to not pay me 100% of the money owed. I finally got fed up and showed up at their doors and got into a massive argument with them and threatened to show up next time with my lawyer (I should have done so since the beginning). I walked out with the letter I needed to take to another department to collect my money. It took me 9 months of arguing and fulfilling stupid requirements to get the money owed to me by the Thai Government.

I really began regretting ever establishing a Thai company and up until this day, I'm considering moving everything out of Thailand.

To this day, I dread dealing with the Revenue Department.

They should also restructure the 4 Thai employees situation to every Farang. There's ways around it, but it's a major pain. As an example, it makes no sense if you have let's say 2 Farangs partnered in one company that must hire 8 Thai employees by law when let's say you really only need 4 employees in the company. By law...many companies that abide by it will have a massive excess of Thai's just sitting around doing nothing except collecting a paycheck and benefits. It's totally ridiculous!

A lot needs to be restructured in Thailand.

Seriously, two countries that I HATE FLYING WITHIN are India and China!

Every time I board a flight in either of these two countries (I've traveled a lot within their borders for business purposes), I begin to pray. I'm not just saying this, I really, really do begin to pray and I'm not the praying type. What I hate most, is landing (in any other country besides India and China, I have no issues with any of the flying which includes landing) in these two countries. I've never had a soft landing. On approach, at first I would look out the window to make sure the wings are leveled, which are usually never until all wheels are on the ground and the approach speed is not too fast to just closing my eyes and grabbing onto my seat while I pray that we do not crash on approach.

This is an honest to god true story, I was on approach to Lucknow...I was tired and had fallen asleep. I was sitting in the exit row, but middle seat. I didn't realize that we were about to land, so of course I remained asleep. The airplane hit the ground so hard, that I thought we had crashed. If it wasn't for my seat belt holding me down in my seat, I would have jumped on top of the person sitting in front of me. Scared the living daylights out me. The two Indian citizens sitting on each side of me where laughing. Sadly, this is just one story, but I have many the same where we hit so hard that I am so surprised that the tires don't explode on impact or that we managed to stop before the runway ends etc... I DREAD having to fly in these 2 countries...and anybody who has traveled extensively in these two countries know exactly what I'm talking about, which leads me to believe the story that Air India found out that many pilots have lapsed licenses.

This is sad!

A boy his age being instituted for a minimum period of 20 years means that when released, he'll ONLY be 35 years old and if he stays healthy, he'll live out another 40 to 50 years of his life while the Teacher whose life he took was torn away and her family left to know that this evil kid will still have a chance to live his life after he has taken their mother and wife away from them. They believe this kid planned the attack and carried it out and showed no remorse; my question is, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THEY GIVE HIM LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE (if the UK has the death penalty, then give him the death penalty). The likelihood of him being released back into society is an extreme danger as he will more than likely kill again and again if not caught the second time. CRAZY!

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

Thailand's entire Democratic system with the King as head of state, is copied from the British. The British set up Thailand's communication systems, railways, Post Office, the entire legal system etc etc. Thailand today has a LOT to do with the British and other farang. Would you rather Thailand was eating sushi and watching Sumo wrestlers?

My line drops all the time

My internet sucks

The train systems stinks

Post always arrives late or I get rocks instead of iphones in my package

Corruption is #1 in Thailand

To Neeranam, I'm messing with you. Thailand's infrastructure sucks and requires immediate attention and their legal system...well, everyone knows is corrupt. The more you pay, the less to no time spent in prison for any illegal action. You opened yourself up so I took a "joking" whack at you. Please don't take it the wrong way...just playing around.

This is going to be interesting!!

Popcorn and coffee ready!!

Popcorn & Coffee...REALLY?

How about pretzels and beer or Coke & Chips for the non-alcoholic drinker or any other combination. Even Coffee & Toast.

Under pay a person with authority and corruption continues.

Offer a reasonable salary with benefits + intense training with the help of a first world country + implement under cover sting operations to keep a watchful eye out for corruption and you'll begin to see improvements.

Thailand has gotten more expensive and for the Government to continue with these embarrassing and miniscule wages, it just goes to show that the bulk of money to be disbursed may be going into the pockets of all future Thaksin's. Seriously...Thaksin was an ex-police who is now a billionaire and from the recent list that was released on total assets of the PM's Cabinet...well, what can one say?

The way I see it, is the Government offers a slave wage to the Police force as an encouragement. How you may ask? Well, put a picture of Thaksin up on the wall in a Police uniform with a personal statement to the cadets:

"I was like you once and now look at me, I'm a Billionaire. Your opportunity is here for the taking; go out and do your best, but always be smart and sneaky and don't get caught and if you do get caught, be sure to have a pay-off fund available to grease your superiors hands so you may continue with your excellent duty to Thailand! Go out there and make us all PROUD!"

The most lucrative and stress-free job you can buy your way into is with the Thai Government.

Very sad, but if they really want to make any difference whatsoever, they must do a complete overhaul of the Police force and pay them a reasonable wage with benefits. They have to give them something to work for...if they give them nothing, then they will find a way to fill the wage gaps and corruption will never end.

When will they ever learn.

Well this is certainly the pot calling the kettle black. First you have warnings of prison time and fines to everybody for voicing their opinion and literally reporting that the Police force is corrupt to please it is your responsibility to voice out and let us know if there's any corruption going on. I wonder what will come tomorrow.

This is like deja vu to the statement issued on the KT investigation when a high authority in the Police force stated that he knows that they haven't done their job correctly because there wasn't any formal communication going on between all authorities involved, but he promises that they will begin communicating.

Oh, and now he states that they are willing to accept criticism when yesterday they were in a roundabout way saying that if you criticize the authorities on the KT investigation, you will get 5 years and a 100,000 THB fine.

With so many odd natural events happening around the world, I swear when I looked out today and saw trees bent in half from the wind and all of the electricity and rain, I was just waiting for hail to begin and for a tornado to appear. My GOD...I can't remember ever seeing it so bad and I've been here 9 years.

I looked out to my pool and saw everything that was sitting around the pool area floating in the pool or in other areas around the pool. We had some minor leakage in a bedroom we don't use except to store items and a trickle in my office but good thing that was it. At least I know that my house is built well; we haven't had any leaks in 7 years.

It just goes to show how serious Thailand is about it's infrastructure. How difficult is it to first look at what is missing in this country and initiate a program to secure situations like this from happening over and over again. Very, very sad for the people that lost their lives because the Government just doesn't care.

Many posters here seem to have short term memory issues as many questions are being laid out on the UK's allowed observance of this case. To clarify this issue for the short-term memory posters, the UK is here to observe only; that "means" yes, they will "observe" the 2nd DNA test.

I'm certain that comparisons will be done to the samples collected in the UK from David and Hannah, but who knows what will come of this. If the Thai Govt has approved the 2nd DNA test, they must be putting out smoke and mirrors for a tremendous magic show and hope that they can trick the UK members who are observing in Thailand to believe that these two migrants are in fact the guilty party to this horrible crime.

Let's hope that the Thai Govt has finally realized that they cannot hide this any longer, and the outcome leads to the actual truth (they are using scapegoats) and to massive changes in the Police force and a major crackdown on local Mafia.