Toknarok

     This appears to be the latest in a series of attacks on persons and vehicles in this forest reserve. The elephants there appear to be particularly aggressive. Speak to most locals here and they avoid the place.  Only last week I was speaking to a local whose relative was charged by an elephant. She avoided injury by lying down flat and feigning death. You really are asking for it if you go there particularly on foot, although the elephants have been known to attack cars.

     Numerous reports just Google 'Elephant attacks Dong Yai Buriram'

     The Southern rubber producers are lucky to be getting 40baht a kilo, the current price here in Buriram is 19baht a kilo. Some producers are not bothering to tap their trees, saying it's not worth the effort for such a low remuneration.

     This has just been reported on the BBC news. Whatever spin the authorities put on it it's not a good advert for Thailand and it's all important tourism industry.

      Please let me tell you about what has happened to my family in the last month or so.

      My wife and I are the guardians of a 14 year old girl, a relative of my wife's whose father died and mother did a runner. We have brought her up since she was 6 months old She regards us as her 'parents' and addresses her as such.

      She is attending the local high school.

      Unfortunately she became infatuated with a local man. He is 29 years old (over twice her age) and seduced my daughter and took her back to his village. Incidentally he is as poor as a church mouse,  He has no real job and lives in a hovel.

      It took my wife some time to locate them. I'm in a wheelchair and so couldn't really assist. My wife demanded she come home and informed this guy that he was breaking the law and would go to the police. He begged my wife not to and offered her 30K baht compensation. My wife accepted this and he managed tt raise the money from his mother.

     Despite this the temptation to  carry on was too strong, the attraction of a 14 year old (she looks about 12) overcame his moral sense (if he had any in the first place).

    He lured her away from home again and they fled to Bangkok.I don't know where they lived (probably in some slum hovel or a building site shack), he didn't give her any money, made her switch off her mobile so she couldn't contact home.

    I wanted my wife to go to the police but typical poor Thai she was very reluctant.

    A couple of days ago she returned. She hated Bangkok, was afraid of the place. What 14 year old child from Issan wouldn't be.

    I insisted my wife go to the Police, reluctantly she did so and the bloke was arrested in his village and locked in the police cells.

   He tried to buy his way out of it by paying 60K baht. I told my missus 'I will not accept one satang from him'. The police of course wanted this course of action (a) they would take a cut of the money (b) they wouldn't have he trouble of having to prepare a docket of case for the prosecutor.

   I was adamant, I wanted no money from a man who deliberately seduced a child against the express wishes of her parents

  He is at present languishing in gaol awaiting trial'

   I know this post has been somewhat off-topic (perhaps should have been in Family and Children) but it is likely to get more views on here.

  A warning therefore to parents of young girls, the predators are out there..

     If you own property in Australia, are resident abroad and you rent out that property, the Aussie tax-man will slug you for 48% of your rental income.

      Approximately 15 years ago I bought 15 rai of land in my area (S. Buriram). It was simple rice paddy. Since then we have only used one third to grow (hom malee) rice. This rice is simply for consumption by my wife's family. None is sold on the market   

    The other 10 rai my wife rents out to a local who grows sugar cane thereon. As to what sot of profit he makes I have no idea - you would have to ask him.

    What has been very noticeable over the past few years is that a lot of rice farmers have or are switching to sugar cane. It's difficult to tell but I estimate that over the last few years at least a third, maybe more farmers have made the switch.

   With the appalling prices being offered by the millers for the last rice crop probably many more farmers will be making the swap.

   Wonder how long before there is a sugar surplus and prices tumble?

     With the large volumes of traffic on Thai roads during the Songkran period the traffic (especially on major roads) wil naturally tend to travel a lot slower, therefore reducing the amount of deaths due to speed, but not the accident rate which will rise.

    Considering the great numbers of pick-ups on the roads their contributing less than 9% of accidents the banning of passengers riding in the tray (although right in principle) is an over-reaction which will greatly inconvenience a vast number of Thais especially in rural areas. Far better for the authorities to concentrate on enforcing the drink driving rules, ensuring that roads rules are adhered to, driving licences, insurance etc.

      At present only Thais can cross, farangs are prohibited from doing so, even if they only want to visit the market on the Cambodian side and are not interested in the casino.

      This may all change when the border post becomes an official crossing point manned by Immigration Police instead of the border guards as it is at present.

      I've lived in Ban Kruat for 30 years and this crossing point has been on the cards for all that time. Looks like it will now eventually really happen. Things grind along slowly in LOS.

    I live just down the road from this temple. Went there one year to see this phenomenon, it was so crowded that it was very difficult to get to a position where you could see through all of the 15 portals.

     This bloke is having you on. $4000 a tree, I wouldn't pay 40 much less 400. What age are these trees, how big is the piece of land encroaching on yours? I might pay 250000 for the land itself if it were big enough and provided it had a full chanote.

         Ill believe it when I see him standing in a Thai court of justice wearing handcuffs!

       Are all elephants in Thailand not supposed to be electronically tagged by law? If so should be quickly identified, unless the tag has been removed.

           About 3 months ago there was a problem with young bikers racing from our village to the next. The local ppuyaiban called the police. They attended with 3 pick ups, stopped the racers and impounded their motor cycles. Unfortunately they impounded my son's bike too, he wasn't racing but fishing in the local river but had parked it where the racers were assembled.

          The following day my wife and son had to go to the police station together with the vehicle registration boo, proof of insurance etc. The bike racing has since ceased.

           It would appear the the police in the OP's case were to bone idle to make no more than a 'don't do it again' gesture whereas if they has caused the racers inconvenience then  a positive result might have occurred.

On 13/01/2017 at 9:41 PM, CGW said:

There is an article in the Bangkok post today saying Honda are increasing production as they expect car sales to rise

Somebodies telling porkies again! 

      I don't know where the Post got it's information from but it is a direct contradiction with an article in the Nikkei Asia Review which states exactly the opposite. Honda are in fact cutting production of motor vehicles.

     Honda have three production plants in Thailand and are about to mothball one of them. In addition these plants which are able to operate on a two shift basis (day and night) have been working for some time now on a day shift only working day. See....

        http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Honda-idles-Thai-auto-capacity-amid-weak-sales

      Perhaps the poor bloke was trying to cut the power to the mosque whose 5am call to prayer was driving him nuts!

     "Borrowing' a vehicle is not theft. Theft is the taking of property with intent to PERMANENTLY deprive the owner of ownership. This sort of behaviour is covered by Statutory Law with it being an offence to take and use a motor vehicle without permission. These laws were specifically designed to punish 'borrowing' and or 'joyriding' of vehicles.

       In Sweden which has the best vehicle safety record in the World it is compulsory to drive with your headlight on at all times.

             If there had been just the one manned moon landing I may have been somewhat sceptical. But to do it SIX times with 12 men walking on the moon, were they all fake? Of course they weren't, far too many people involved, the secret would have been out long ago.

            These expeditions were extremely costly not to say dangerous to human crew. Much easier to send soft unmanned landers. The data they sent and brought took (and is still taking) years to analyse. Space telescopes and space stations are now capable of gathering lunar data without actually landing on the surface.

          In any event the focus seems to have shifted to Mars and other objects in solar orbit recently.

         A box of matches costs a couple of baht, what's the price per rai to plough? With rice farmers only getting 5 or 6 baht a kilo for their paddy this year many simply cannot afford the cost of ploughing.

        In any event unless the ground is ploughed soon in a couple of months it will be rock hard that even large tractors would have trouble turning the furrow.

        Elephants are banned from the streets of Bangkok. But like most  laws in this Country people still ignore them on occasion. See......http://www.richardbarrow.com/2013/08/elephants-on-the-streets-of-bangkok-2/

Quote

Manot said that negotiations on how much to pay depends on whether they will just be paying for the extra tax on the vehicles or for fines incurred as well.

      This to me appears to be an admission of guilt. By agreeing to pay the extra tax implies that the buses were built in China and not Malaysia, and 'negotiating' the amount of 'fines' to be paid implies that false documentation was deliberately tendered as to their Country of origin.

      Why no criminal prosecution for fraudulent declarations?

           The current price of cassava is 1000 baht a ton. At that price it's simply not worth growing it. Locals here are switching from cassava to sugar cane. The powers that be can 'encourage' farmers to grow more but unless the price improves they're wasting their time. Two years ago the price was 2200 baht a ton.

        It may not be illegal to discriminate against foreigners in the manner described but it really isn't sensible business practice.

        The Pizza Company is the biggest company of this type in Thailand. I was unable to ascertain the number of outlets it has in the Country, but let's take a guess and say 200. Now just how many foreigners eat in one of their outlets every day, probably not all that many. These foreigners would tend to be tourists and foreign workers and retirees living here. Foreigners such as Burmese and Cambodian workers don't eat pizza, they can't afford it.

      Just how many of the foreign customers on December 5th would have their birthday on that particular day. I doubt very much whether more than one or two, and I'll bet many outlets wouldn't have even one.

      Therefore for the sake of not discounting (not giving free) the price of a maximum of 200 pizzas the Pizza Company  potentially loses the custom of foreigners who read about this  discriminatory practice on forums such as this. Not very sound business sense IMO but there again I'm sure they don't care.

       As a disabled person who relies on a wheelchair and a mobility scooter I welcome the General's words - but - that is all they are words and without actions to accompany them they are meaningless.  Hardly any consideration is given to the disabled when constructing things for public use, the odd petrol station with a disabled toilet if you're lucky.

      Travelling in a wheelchair in any city is virtually impossible. Of the dozen or so ATM machines in my local town only one I can use and if it's out of order or money I have to rely on someone else to withdraw cash. So much for being independent. ATM's don't have to be 'up the steps'.

      Last year the local branch of the Agriculture Bank closed for a few months in order to carry out renovations. They completely revamped the front putting in new ATM's. Yes you've guessed it - bank and machines accessible by BLOODY STEPS. Wheelchairs can't climb stairs. When I complained all I got was a smile, sorry and a shrug.

     The renovations probably cost hundreds of thousands of baht, the cost of a simple ramp would merely cost a few hundred.

           You will find that many Isaan people are as black (or even darker) than your girlfriend. Even so you may hear her being referred to as 'chocolate'. It's not really racist. Isaan people themselves are often looked down upon by their lighter skinned fellow countrymen, that's a 'class' thing rather than racist.