bkkcanuck8

Most foreigners cannot afford paying the Thai government 50 million baht... please don't suggest it... 🤪

Not to mention, I doubt he was facing forward... and there was no centrifugal force according to the photo... it was a straight section... and he was not spun - so he must have been facing away from the truck and that would not give you the same sort of grip against the flow of vehicle.

This type of transit for me is preferable to the large buses that stop at every stop and take time waiting for people to board and leave. I find the Songthaews to be better actually, they have good flow of air - so I don't feel I am overheating. I can stand along the route and board by putting out my hand, boarding quickly - when I see my exit coming I hit a buzzer and it stops where I want and I deboard... quick and efficient... especially for low volume routes. I don't know how you can tell if it is friendly service or not (not that you get friendly service in most western buses - the only time they communicate is when you mess up or don't pay). Your normal interaction is stop - walk up to passengers side and give them a coin or two or a 20 baht note and get change (change is not an option in the west). Are you expecting them to get out and wai to you and say - great to see you again... etc.? We have 24 routes of Songthaew in Khon Kaen, and a couple of really nice buses that do one or two routes... buses are normally empty, and I find the wait too long and not as quick or easy to board and leave... I prefer the songthaew..

Probably because where I am, you don't have a bunch of inebriated foreigners getting on and of Songthaews and then going splat. I use them often where I live and I have never felt unsafe on them from being flung off the back... but then, I don't drink and ride on them. Maybe the songthaews in Pattaya should just forbid foreigners from taking them - and force them to call a grab cab.

Yes, and that is why the foreigners estate should pay Thailand for loss of tourist revenue... 🤣

The fact that the driver did not notice someone falling of the baht bus steps onto the pavement - seem plausible (especially since he did not notify the driver that he was leaving 🤣). When you see people getting on and off all the time, you don't register if they are there or not... you only register if someone rings to leave... you stop... and wait for payment. Seems like a freak accident to me, and a bit of the passenger not being responsible for his own safety. I don't know why he would be standing on the stairs - since the vehicle was empty, and I don't see how he would have been ejected from the seat. Sorry, but you can not protect people from their own stupidity without making the experience worse for everyone else.

That is what happens when the regulation and enforcement fails to match the 'goal' of decriminalizing it. It went from illegal to decriminalized, but parts of areas looked like one gigantic dispensary -- which was not medical nor research. If it had not been so public in that manner, the reclassification drive probably would not have gotten any traction. I, personally, could not care less about how it is classified (never used).

Hmmm... you know dead men don't tend to complain... so... if they were killed... no complaint... would not be able to pursue charges...

It is not opium, but it is an opiate. Heroin is a drug made from morphine which comes from opium... Heroin started it's life as a cough suppressant.... from Bayer.

Opiates and Coca (this covers drugs like Heroin, Morphine, Cocaine) were unregulated and legal up until 1914 I believe... (Coke Cola recipe was changed as a result).

Because drugs are bad, real bad... I turn your attention to your brain on drugs:

Oh, rules do not get in the way of what the right people decide should happen... My bet is that the ones that went to great trouble making sure the wrong people were not selected PM, will not want to revisit this when they have already compromised the current PM (if brought down, there could be unintended consequences that would fracture the current coalition)... so a way will be found...

"And if you are like many" is not the same as "You are like many" - it is a turn of phrase meant to imply that while you may do one thing, many will not ('many' not 'you'). It does not matter if the if the crosswalk is well marked, or not well marked in Thailand... crosswalks have seemingly NO meaning to Thai drivers for the most part - I get the feeling that they don't even know that a crosswalk infers a 'right of way' for a pedestrian to cross. It also indicates the driver should take caution when approaching the crosswalk to make sure they can act if someone starts crossing. In fact, I would say it is more dangerous to paint them on the road for those that know the standard is a right of way - especially if they come from a country where it is enforced strictly - as it gives a tourist a feeling that crossing it is safe to do. Try going to a crosswalk in Bangkok and stand at a crosswalk and point to indicate you are crossing... NO one will stop in most cases... effectively you are as safe doing that as jaywalking on a major roadway while the road is not clear.

And then if you are like many - speed up to get through there before you have to stop for a pedestrian who has the audacity to get in your way and delay you - even for a second 🤣.... then "points += 5"

I always just assume that any crosswalk is just another place to line up pedestrians for a game of pedestrian pinball.