richard_smith237

Some of you do remind me about People who like to stone others, same mentality......

I agree 100%, most posts on this particular topic are only bullshit talking.

Now the OP was interesting as it might happen to one of us one day, who knows. Have anyone had the same experience?? What can one do in a situation like this, flatly refuse to pay, or just bite the apple and pay. I would really like to hear other TV members experience in this regard, thanks.

I carry photo copies of all documents, I make sure everything is legal. So if stopped it should always be for a ticket for a traffic violation. If the police are asking for money then its clearly extortion, I'd ask them which police station they are working from and I'd be straight on the phone.

As I understand it, all the Police are permitted to do is to take the license away (in return for a ticket). The license can be picked up the next day after the usual fine of B400 is paid, points may also be added to the license for speeding which is usually 30 points. The limit for a license is 60 points in Thailand. I only know of one Westerner in Thailand who had points added to his license and he had 30 points added, then a few weeks later another 40, so he was 10 points over, but his license was never revoked, so I'm not entirely sure this system is fully operational.

The Op experienced extortion in its simplest form.

I have friends who could sort this out quite quickly if I needed them to and I feel comfortable in that fact. But, to be honest, I've only asked for one my friends for help 2 times - and he jokes that I never ask for his help, my response is that I have never had a serious issue, YET !

I get stopped occasionally, when I have been spotted breaking some traffic law or another, the police are usually very polite and I've never had to hand over my license - B100 is accepted (In and around BKK), if they want more I will just say to take the license and I'll pay the fine at the station when I pick up my license tomorrow. That usually gets the on the spot fine down to B100.

In this case of the OP, I may very well have been bloody minded and said - ok, tow the car. Then made a call to some friends who could sort this out very quickly.

If the car was towed I'd imagine the Op would have had to pay higher costs (i.e. towing costs and retrieving the car from some kind of lockup).

Without friends who can assist this is a very tricky situation, one possibility may be to ask them to escort you to the station.

In my experience: I only have 30% tint on my windows and can be seen clearly, if the police were specifically targeting foreigners I'd get stopped all the time. As it stands, I've been stopped by the Police in Thailand (in Bangkok) 3 times in 5 years, and I think it cost me B80 the first time (because I pretended that's all I had), nothing the second time because I had difficulty understanding the Policeman's accent and he just waved me on, and B100 the 3rd time when my tax was out of date.

It seems to me as though these cops were a very bad pair. Thanks for Posting the story OP - stories like yours help us all to be aware that this can and may happen.

Can't believe most of the answers so far have related to golf, I believe most of us don't play golf. Murrinman seems to be asking about tipping generally, which is almost never anywhere near 300 baht.

Perhaps because this is the Golf forum.

I always tip caddies B300 thats in and around Bangkok / Kanchanaburi / Hua Hin / Chonburi

I sometimes play with Thai's who tip the same amount.

In Khao Yai my Thai friends were tipping B200 - I followed suit.

I only ever saw one problem and that was when a caddy complained that I wasn't using a cart. So she swapped with another caddy and ended up caddying for my friend who was playing in the group behind and also walking.

Apparently she complained all the way round, then scowled and complained at his B300 tip....

My wife and I were at her parents house.

My Mother, Father in Law, My Brother in Law, Wife and myself were on web cam with my Sister and her boys in the UK, whom they had not seen since the wedding.

My nephews in the UK were quite taken with my Brother in Law who is a good lad and had lots of fun with the kids.

There was a lot of noise with everyone pulling faces, sticking their tongues out and the usual webcam behaviour with kids…

At the same time my sis called me on my cell so we could actually have a conversation. I went in the next room and left my wife’s family to it on the web cam with my nephews in the UK.

After a few min’s my sister asked me – Why is your brother in Law flicking the V’s to her children !

I had to explain to my Brother in Law that while the V sign (knuckles forwards) means peace (or something similar) over here, in the UK its similar to the middle finger !

We couldn’t help but laugh, and hope the kids didn’t pick it up.

Well if you see the same guy in family mart maybe the staff will have had enough of him already and call the police…

Then you can sing….

“I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me

He's just a poor boy from a poor family

Spare him his life from this monstrosity

Easy come easy go - will you let me go

It's the LAW! No - we will not let you go - let him go

It's the LAW! We will not let you go - let him go

It's the LAW! We will not let you go - let me go

Will not let you go - let me go (never)

Never let you go - let me go

Never let me go - ooo

No, no, no, no, no, no, no”

Erm.. OK then, how about a little ‘tea money’ !!!

(Some ones going to tell me to get my coat now I think.... )

Might you have strained an Intercostal Muscle (between the ribs) ?

As I understand it if you hit him from behind it's automatically your fault (this is also the same in the UK), if you clipped his side as he cut back in then that would be a different matter.

The reason people over here drive the way they do is that there is a total lack of 'concept of consequence'.

This 'Jai-Dee' system educates the poor that the rich will take care of their reckless driving.

This 'Jai-Dee' system also educates the wealthier that they can get away with their reckless driving by paying.

The insurance companies have set up a system where there are no consequences of having a prang as there is no excess (i.e. we don't have to pay the first B10,000 etc if the accident is our fault).

There was an interesting article in the BKK a few years back which drew attention to the fact that the way the insurance systems are set up over here means that people drive and don't care if they crash. I wouldn't go that far.

However, if there were consequences such as an excess for people driving their motorbikes and cars and if every vehicle was forced to have at least 3rd party insurance (which pays for the other vehicle in the event you are responsible for an accident) rather than the 'Jai-dee' way of dealing with accidents then as the awareness of consequences and attitudes are forced to change so may the accident rate.

As many things in Thailand - the current systems is set up for immediate gratification (taking the path of least resistance for immediate gain) however this set up while making us feel nice and fuzzy and warm has longer term consequences:

Long term consequences such as, the guy the Op paid of has not learned a thing and may kill himself next time, the family lose income etc (extreme I know, but this probably occurs far more than we care to imagine) - the knock on effect is endless, traffic etc....

Looks Good.

I also agree Auzzie beef is probably the best taste / value option, but I'd like to see the meat a little darker where it has hung for a little bit longer for the enzymes and tenderization to have had to time to take effect.

I now have a far greater understanding of how these messages get the way they are...

Just this week the toilet in one of our clubs was out of order, I sms'd a simple message to the Manager so that people would know to use the rest rooms on the 3rd floor.

> Pls Use Toilets On 3rd Floor.

You managed to locate a pair of size 13's trainers then Brian, or are you going for bare foot again this week ?

If possible can someone post a google maps location for the pitch - many of us will be able to follow it easily then.

I can offer a lift to those who live near Rama IV (Near Bangkok Uni).

Isaan and the North East - I quite fancy taking a driving trip for a couple of weeks through and around the area.

It's a given that People from there have somewhat of a reputation but I believe that this is just a misconception based on concentration of a certain type in a certain area which give the geographical region a poor name.

Many expats who live there speak very fondly of the place, I'd like to find out for myself when my wife and I have time.

When you go ,maybe you can refer to everybody as "baan nok",see how far you get looking down your nose at the country folk,you wont get very far kidder ,best to stay in your bubble :jap:.

Remove chip from shoulder, develop some ability to 'read between the lines' and you may notice that my comment was in no way intended as a slur against Isaan. Rather I am pointing out that while it has a certain reputation, I'd like to go there and see the place for myself based on the positive reports I have also heard.

Do we have a location / booking for this Sunday ???

Are you purposely being inane?

Were you the guy doing a moonwalk in home-pro last week ?

Fair enough, if he finds it offensive then there is no reason not to change it.

I can't see anyone getting offended if it was to be called the Japanese Emoticon, maybe change the colour too, that could be construed as being offensive to some.

Could any other Japanese folks who read this forum take offense at your ID Photo ? maybe time to change that ?

Why would a bloke sing that song?

Agreed - I find that Lady Gaga goes down with much greater success when at the 7-11....

NO.

You have it all wrong.

You are clearly thinking of Family Mart.

Quite right you are, apologies to 7-11.

Why would a bloke sing that song?

Agreed - I find that Lady Gaga goes down with much greater success when at the 7-11....

Isaan and the North East - I quite fancy taking a driving trip for a couple of weeks through and around the area.

It's a given that People from there have somewhat of a reputation but I believe that this is just a misconception based on concentration of a certain type in a certain area which give the geographical region a poor name.

Many expats who live there speak very fondly of the place, I'd like to find out for myself when my wife and I have time.

My Wife and I have this 'Mini-bowl oven'. It cooks wonderful pies, cakes, roast chicken, lamb and anything else someone would choose to cook in an oven but with the convenience of only having to clean a bowl afterwards.

I've since seen these 'Mini-bowel Ovens' (for want of a better name) everywhere in Supermarkets such as Tesco Lotus etc...

When my Girlfriend and I were becoming serious we discussed the fact that while she has family, friends, a business and many contacts here my future priorities have to be with my (and our future) financial security, the consequence of which is after balancing all other considerations and given favorable opportunities I may ask that we move to and live in another country.

With this in mind I asked one thing. If or when that day arose can we give it a try for one year without complaint or regret. If at the end of 12 months there were issues I would then be prepared to listen to emotion and if necessary go back to square one.

I met my wife in Bangkok and she is happy here, so am I. In another country things might not be the same but with the knowledge that it might not be our last destination and there is always a square one to go back to any pressures of a foreign land may be minimized.

I believe that ultimately it is this acceptance to compromise which generates the best potential for success in any location.

Now married I realize that it may be wrong to move from my Wife's family and friends to any location other than one with the support of my family and close friends.

My wife is three years younger than I, from a similar socioeconomic demographic and can fit in as an equal in the UK. There are only a couple of doubts I have regarding this last statement and they are food and language (language in this context means linguistic humor which is individual to any specific tongue and something we all grew up with and love).

Every Thai I know is so well acquainted with the diversity of foods available to us in Thailand (Bangkok) that living in any other country might test the tolerance of gastronomic satisfaction we have all become used to in Thailand.

Additionally, every Thai I know loves to joke, tease and play with dialogue to a degree possible only in ones native tongue or for one with exceptional language skills.

Home will always be home and while I consider Thailand my home, a small patch of England will always remain so. I'd imagine this to be very much true for Thai's - As such any length of time outside of ones home is surely a test of ones character which as a previous posters have mentioned can only be tested with the proverbial 'toe in the water'.

Good luck, but keep a back up plan, 'What's good for the Goose is not necessarily good for the Gander'....

Perhaps the Op is drawing attention to the fact that unlike us Westerners Thai's tend not to crap on their own doorstep.

Many of the Neighboring Orientals have their own style of Karaoke bars and clubs but we don't see these men parading their 'bit of fluff' up and down Sukhumvit road.

The concept of 'correct time and place' is perhaps lost on many Westerners or as some posters have alluded to some Westerners simply don't care what others think.

I hate to be 'tarred by the same brush', and it was certainly a worry for my Father in Law when I started dating his daughter, his initial concern was that many Westerners have such a poor reputation in Thailand. I believe the Op maybe sympathetic to my FIL's view point, as indeed am I.

As one poster has correctly pointed out, many educated Thai's will recognise that it is only a certain demographic which tarnishes the reputation of Westerners in Thailand and thus we should judged individually.

Non Western food - Anything which in general wouldn't be served with Potato (of any sort) or Pasta such as Any dish served Rice or Noodles ?

Although I'm sure there are many exceptions such as Paella, chili con-carne etc....

I always figured 'International' is used to describe a restaurant that is not specifically one style or another...

A restaurant which serves a little bit of anything and everything might prefer to label itself as an 'International Restaurant'...

However, I'm not sure what international food is - IMO most foods can always be associated with one country or region.

D'you pick up fat kids often Rob ?

My mortgage is cheaper than the rent at my previous apartment.

For my wife and I it is a method in which to save money while acquiring an asset.

However, as one poster has already mentioned we cannot move easily if we wish.

On the subject of footwear...

I've never played on this fake grass. Will studs work ?