drgoon

Another of the Quality Tourists...

If the place wasn't so bloody corrupt and the administration and maintenance of existing tourism features was up to scratch, and crap like what happened at Kho Tao was dealt with properly then Thailand would still be viewed as one of the must do destinations.

I've lived here 25yrs now and bugger all has changed. Just another Administration with a variation on the same old lip service.

I do however greet some of the new initiatives like the BKK cycleways but we know how long that was usable... about 1 day after opening. Now it's a convenient place to park.

Yeah the fee is cheap in falang money but lets get real. If things were done properly here it wouldn't be needed and wouldn't be seen as another gouging of the tourist.

Fellas

little confused when I read

"Lucy Hill, from Bury, suffered a broken pelvis and a brain haemorrhage following the collision in Bangkok on Saturday, December 9.

She was just six days into the trip of a lifetime when the car collided with her moped in Chiang Mai."

Me too

Engage

Acknowledge

I leave the country often for work.

I have rules for my 10yo daughter when she uses our Honda 100. If I find out she hasn't worn the helmet we bought her she will have the privilege withdrawn. She did once before. I took the keys for a month. When I let her use the bike again I told her next time 'finish'.

Same when we go out in the car. No seatbelt, no start. This includes adults.

It doesn't take long for it to become normal practice.

The biggest lesson for them was the nephew with his brains all over the road.... no helmet.

RIP for these poor folks. Tragedy

Oh wow.... sand banks.

Turn them into a tourist attraction and destabilise another part of the ecosystem.

'Foreigner Pay Here'

Sexual exploitation is ok in the Koran I guess....

Maybe I should get the bench and treadmill out again.

Bo

Transfer

...Good God...

Are you saying God is responsible and that is good ??

Accept

Story

In Khon Kaen, 100 police, military personnel and civil officers set up checkpoints in Ban Pai district and seized more than 10 of the Shinawatra calendars.

Didn't they do well........

John

This old chestnut again...

I have worked in and around the Dive Industry in LOS for more than 20 years - the solution to preventing the problems in the OP are easy.

only work in accordance with the conditions stated in you work permit.

In other words:-

1. Only carry out the work designated in your work permit.

1.1 Have Dive Instructor listed as your main job description

1.2 Have teaching water sports added as another job description in the same work permit

The general rule for not falling foul of the your job description designation is:-

If you need to carry out other duties that are not obviously covered by your existing job description - then have them added to you work permit - your lawyer can do this for you.

2. Only work at the specific location listed in your work permit.

2.2 List the Dive Center as one location for Academics

2.3 List the swimming pool as another location. List Swimming pools at hotels as a more general location description.

2.4 List Andaman Sea, Koh Phi Phi, Gulf of Siam etc (as necessary) as additional work locations

If you need to work at locations not precisely listed in your work permit - then get your lawyer to add these additional locations

My own work permit is annotated above plus other duties have been added such as the repairing of scuba gear, compressors, engineering work that I often get called out to - It took a long time to slowly get my work and locations properly described in the WP and now results in zero hassles at all when inspected by the WP police.

As an example of how nit-picking the WP police can get - I was caught up in a raid of dive shop employees in a large dive shop spread over several shop units. It was a big operation with 153 Intern Instructors and 7 big dive boats out at the weekend. The WP police obviously sniffed the cash flow and sprung a serious raid with a mini-bus of peaked hats going over everyone and everything. Interestingly, they even wanted to check that each individual townhouse that made up the dive shop was listed in my WP - else 'big problems for me' They were. No issues.

Other obvious no-no's

Do not get involved in carrying boxes of dive gear or any other obvious manual labor in the public view - since manual labor by foreigners either paid or unpaid is general forbidden under Thai labor law, even with a work permit.

Ensure the Dive Co understands the rules (They will get fined a fortune too if you get caught) - convince them to pay a 3rd world laborer or the boat boy(whoever) hanging around on the peer 100 Baht to load the fkin boat, while you sit and drink a coffee with the customers. This is small money for peace of mind and allows you to give better service.

Now, from experience, I know the comments here will get poo-poo'd by the usual knuckle dragging tattoo faced scum bags who run many of the Dive Centers in this dear country - who know better - but gents(unless you have friends in the sky) you (as well as your instructors) will get fined or gouged for a huge amount of cash under the Alien Business Law (N.E.C. Announcement 281) so sort your sh#t out or pay the piper.

To close - Cheers - and have a great day diving.

Good info... cheers

Song

Sheets

Ho hum diddily dummm......

How about approaching safety issues at the core. Internationally recognised safety standards, proper routine maintenance, driver testing.... drugs and alcohol as well as ability to perform the task. Safe driving practice.... don't overtake on blind corners or with oncoming traffic, adhere to speed limits.... the list goes on and on.

I shake my head in amazement at the failure of the Administration of this country to address issues in an appropriate manner.

I am going to play devils advocate here. Surely this scenario could be possible for anyone sharing a network. So basically any person that is using your internet connection could be the culprit.

Like his wife and child....

Relief

it says suspected, not convicted.

In other words.. innocent until proven guilty.

Murder is murder.

Exactly. . The suspect will be paraded in front of the media. Convicted.... case closed. Next

World

Please