Classic Ray

Having many years experience dealing with drunks and potheads, give me the potheads any day, always mellow never aggressive unless they have taken something else as well.

Totally agree. The area should be sealed to prevent contamination of evidence by the public trampling all over it and disturbance. If this was anything other than a dog and pony show by the police they would take the evidence gathering seriously.

My wife and her friends contracted in Korat and spread to the rest of the family (me, boys 11 and 7) when she returned home to isolate. All already vaccinated. Much milder than first time, two days in bed, boys hardly missed a beat. I’m certainly not worried about getting it again.

Strange that he and his father’s rank and name are identical in spite of him being only a cadet.

Having longer VOA or visa exempt entries reduces the opportunity for 1900 baht visa extensions. You should realise that the majority of funding for the Immigration Police, in common with other Thai state institutions, comes from the imposition of fees and fines.

In my mum’s home city of Berlin it is common to see people sunbathing naked even in their office lunch breaks around the lakes. Nobody bats an eyelid.

Think you mean gun fetish as phobia means “fear of”.

You mean like with Red Bull Boss?

Would be nice to see some action against the motorbike hire places that rent to people without checking driving licences or supplying helmets.

Thailand has many fine surgeons who could repair him locally for far less than £250000. Maybe they can negotiate that with the insurance company.

I would suggest licensing and regulation of door security staff as they do in other countries but they can’t even regulate the police so that’s a waste of time.

They have difficulty doing the basics right. The man in civilian clothes with a lit cigarette leaning over the crashed motorcycle.

No, someone is always at fault. Good road design with more central crash barriers rather than klongs with trees (guaranteed killers) would go a long way towards minimising the effects of the driver(s) at fault.

If this is a tourism tax why is it being levied on retirement and marriage extension/visa holders who don’t have work permits? Really it’s just just another foreigner tax.

No one is entitled to make their own traffic laws. If they are not allowed to drive in a particular direction or on a particular street, the authorities must put up a sign to say so, not rely on a taxi rider to enforce a “rule”. No wonder the Swedes were upset.

If the RTP do nothing here they are criticised, same if they do something. But there does seem to be a concentration of effort on cases where there might be a pot of gold at the end. The money never seems to return to the Government budget, strange. talking of pots of gold, whatever happened about the flying saucer temple or the illegal nightclub that tragically burned down killing all those youngsters?

The funny part is an Inspector being engaged clearly full time running a gambling network, seemingly under the noses of his supervisors, without anyone noticing he wasn’t doing any police work? What are the Generals doing all day for their salaries if they are not checking up on their staff? I know the answers are obvious, but isn’t it time to give the honest cops a go? There are some out there, I know.

Of course there are some corrupt cops in every country. The difference is in most civilised ones they are rooted out rather than being covered up, protected and whitewashed.

Wonder why they have to waste money by flying to Taiwan to interview her? A Zoom or Teams call (recorded of course) should be sufficient to clear up any misunderstandings.

Possible causes as already mentioned, overloaded, poorly maintained. Diesel fires uncommon after collisions, but many trucks here use LPG/CNG in big cylinders behind the cab, and they can catch fire if the valves etc are damaged in a crash.

It will be alright now Dave, they’ve just spent 33 million baht on a new sign!

In my early days in Bangkok I got quite drunk in a club in Silom Soi 4, two girls I met offered to help me keep drinking and we went to Ratchada where I bought a bottle of whisky and promptly fell asleep on a bar stool whilst they danced. Two hours later, they woke me up and sent me home in a taxi. No one tried to rob me, even though they had opportunity. I knew this was a town I could be happy and safe in.

If the Governor wants to subsidise BTS fares to make them more affordable, he will have to raise local taxation revenue to pay for it. Maybe now is the time to legalise and tax gambling, including casinos, in the city, with sensible controls, and prevent the outflow of money to the death trap border casinos in Cambodia, and provide betting shops to allow legal means for Thais to indulge their love of football betting, again with suitable controls and taxation. The national lottery could be modernised using models like the U.K. National Lottery and Euromillions to provide improved revenue and money for charitable causes. Commercial property taxes, especially on entertainment venues, could be increased. Tax could be imposed on cannabis sales. These measures and others like them, carrot and stick, will increase tourism and local revenues and improve the funds available for subsidies.

This sounds like using up leftover annual uniform budget (less commission) to avoid next year’s grant being lower. They just issued some free black body warmer jackets to some office staff to replace perfectly serviceable dark blue ones. Unusual as they normally have to buy them from their meagre salaries.

Thailand is a similar society to pre-Revolution Russia or China. The rich have all the power and influence, backed up by the police and the military. The poor are downtrodden and hopeless of change. There does not seem to be the same appetite for Revolution here, although there were hints of it during the Red/Yellow shirts conflict and the recent student demonstrations. I am not sure if the current status will prevail, or if some groundswell of opinion or defining event will be enough to trigger overwhelming dissent. I think the Thai character is different to both the examples I quoted earlier, but I know they can get very angry.