richard_smith237

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/08/yellowstone-national-park-man-dies-after-falling-into-hot-spring/

This story is an example of what can happen...  These idiots were blindly ignorant when someone else was simply considering their safety.

Going of the trail in such areas can and does have dire consequences, perhaps this is not expressed sufficiently upon entering the parks ?

Of course, in the case of the above, even though a body could not be recovered, perhaps there would be sufficient outrage in Thailand that they attempt to send their own team to recover any remains 

For the most part tourists behave well, but there are always a handful who's behavior is an example of the worst of their society, this Video (Topic) is such an example and is embarrassing for Thailand more for the blatant show of stupidity rather than the defiance of regulations - these people clearly had no idea of the danger they were placing themselves in. 

That said, the guy making the video did so in a somewhat provocative manner instead of offering polite advice and identifying exactly how and why it is dangerous for the ignorant tourists to step outside the pathways. 

Quite Orwellian... attempting to push the public against each other rather than encouraging community spirit and harmony.....   If this were to take hold the knock on effect for society could be quite damaging as the LoS, Land of Smiles turns into the LoS, Land of Snitches....  

3 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

Hit my kid and see what happens.  I might end up in jail, but I guarantee the teacher would end up in the hospital. 

 

Indeed, it may be the only method this egotistical idiot understands... 

.. If he were to smack your kid, I think like for like treatment is acceptable - smack him in the same way, if you are charged with assault, charge him with assault of your child. 

Is anyone else having an issue using Google & Youtube recently ?

I'm with True in central Bangkok area... each and every time I log in to google.com or google.co.th with True Wifi the service is incredibly slow, all other sites are as quick as they always have been.

27 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Yeah, because they can get money from insurrance just for using more then they could afford.
Another reason is that idiots home might believe them. Here the police would just laugh. And that is because the story is fabricated and no evidence of anything exists. They don´t even know where they where when the men showed up, and they don´t know how they look. Also don´t know where they were taken. Probably no marks anywhere on the body of anyone of them either. Then again, 7 men took them away. Usually that means rape too, but now that either. There is absolutely no substance at all in this story.

... erm... your name fits... Get Real !!!...

Its been written numerous times in this thread, 100 Euro's is not an insurance scam !! its daft to even draw such a conclusion, besides insurance usually won't cover cash. 

How could there be any evidence ?... you are drawing some crazy assumptions, usually that means rape ? WHAT >? No it doesn't !...  they cooperated... they weren't beaten...  so of course there were no physical marks. 

When driving / riding around a new city it would be very simple not to recognize or remember an area especially under such stressful circumstances. I've been driving in Bangkok for nearly 20 years, know the city extremely well and there are still areas I'd get lost in and not be able to find again. 

And the final question: Why would anyone even bother to make up such a story ?... there is no motive to do so

Tourist the world over seem to forget to take their brains with them on their Travels. 

Just last year in Japan the Taxi in which my Wife and I were traveling drove down the icy bank and luckily stopped before skidding into the Thai group who were stood posing for a photo in the middle of the road in front of the Olympic sign....  (we knew they were Thai as we'd spoken to them the day before)... 

Just one example, but I see daily examples of idiotic behavior by tourists in Thailand. Each and every country is embarrassed by its poorly behaved tourists. 

Fortunately this is doing the rounds on Social media and has kicked up a frenzy on Panthip.com where the Thai forum members are in uproar against the behavior exampled in this video, hopefully some will learn and the video will do some good for the benefit of future tourists. 

The Thai guy in the video came across as being quite aggressive and almost threatening when he asked the guy recording to delete the video, when I watched his behavior I wondered how a taxi driver can afford such a trip !!! 

2 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

My SCB pin is four digits, since SCB allows you to pick your own when you open an account  

Not any longer as far as I am aware. Now when getting a new card or new account you have to use a 6 digit pin. 

SCB wouldn't let me use a 4 digit pin (about 1 year ago).

9 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

I can see why people are skeptical. These two farangs who look like they need money and probably earn less than 8,000 baht a month need to make up this story. Shame on them against the fine reputable RTP.

Blacklist them immediately. Or if not refute this preposterous claim than nobody has ever mentioned before.

They claim they were robbed of 100 Euro's... If this were an Insurance scam they would surely be claiming a greater amount, also if I'm not mistaken insurance doesn't cover the loss of cash it only covers belongings.

I think this is a feasible story. The men 'claimed' they were Police, possibly lying to intimidate the couple. 

I'm sure we'll see an announcement from the Thai Police claiming that this robbery was not by the BiB but by criminals falsely making the claim that they are Police. 

It's shocking and extremely frightening scenario... Robbed and kidnapped from the street, it could happen to any of us at any time... 

On 8/13/2017 at 0:29 PM, pumpjack said:

no doubt this has fallen from the back of a vehicle,           in thailand  i have seen countless hundreds of vehicles heavy laden / overloaded  with metal rods , building materials etc etc not properly secured and allways dread to think what would happen,   i hit the peddle and get past these types very quickly.

 

cops should impose very very stiff fines for over loaders and the like

Indeed - it is in fact against the law to have an uncovered pickup or lorry on Thailands Expressways and Tollways.... 

However, I never see such vehicles prevented from passing a Toll Booth... Stiff fines would and effective policing would do so much more towards preventing avoidable and potentially catastrophic incidents. 

4 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

As you said they "could"

but they could also  be from the following countries  :Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and last United Kingdom (too yes)

but to be honest, I am not sure 100%, I have still 2/3 others in mind but less likely

I disagree, I don't think they could be from Turkey.... 

7 minutes ago, fasteddie said:

And what brings you to that conclusion Sherlock?

He clearly stated 'they look like'...  thus, its quite obvious that in Xonax's opinion, he thinks they look as if they 'could' originate from Eastern Europe, possibly Russia... Its not a conclusion its an opinion on a web-forum on which many opinions are expressed... and sometimes shot down by someone being critical and offering nothing of benefit whatsoever to the discussion / topic. 

Back on Topic - I think they look as if they could be from the UK.

I'd hazard a guess and suggest that far more has been stollen by locals, but that wouldn't make a decent enough Facebook rant or reach the news.

It's a shame this is happening as some here in Thailand love nothing more than to revel in some xenophobic criticism,

Fortunately the majority of Thai's are smart enough to judge us each based on our own individual merit, I hope this doesn't change and we become tarred by the same brush as these thieving miscreants.

Unless there are a significantly greater amount of tourist arrivals over the past few years (i.e. double) then something has changed in the Scheduling of the Officers of attend the Immigration Desks.

Either someone is simply not doing their job and has no concern for hassle and delays caused to arriving tourists, or someone in a position of decision making power is being somewhat belligerent in allowing this issue to worsen in a form of protest against lack of Budget etc...

....perhaps the next announcement we see is Budget for Immigration Increased to xxxxx baht improvements to be made etc etc...   We know how these games are played here, it wouldn't surprise me if this were the case.

The 'other' side of the story is missing... 

I've lost count of the times I'm trying to cross the road here and no one is giving way or even slowing slightly to let me cross. It become a game of chicken which angers me somewhat... 

It is entirely possible that the Foreigner was trying to cross the road and that the Taxi refused to allow this and instead of slowing passed dangerously close whereby the Foreigner kicked out or smaked the car... In response the incensed taxi driver got out and walloped the foreigner knocking him out... 

Of course, it is also entirely possible that the events reported by the Taxi driver are true and exact.

Until there are both sides of the story have been reported can we come up with a more realistic version of events, something more plausible. 

That said: With a Foreigner, likely to be drunk and a Taxi driver likely to be a typical taxi driver anything is possible....  but for sure, both have reacted to escalate a situation - it always takes two..  

2 minutes ago, pomozki said:

Thanks Richard - actually my nightmare has been with Bupa Thailand - I'd expect this sort of amateurish sloppiness from them. I'm quite surprised your similar experience was with Bupa International. I thought they were among the best going.
out of interest who are you with now? I might see if they (or Cigna as Sheryl suggested) can offer me something decent. I suspect I might have less chance than you cos to this day Bupa have insisted on keeping in exclusions which are totally unwarranted and I'll have to explain that to the new people. I therefore let the policy lapse and am now uninsured. very unhappy with Bupa over that. At least you could truthfully say you were only changing companies to look for a better deal.

 

even if I can't get a better policy, it's quite uplifting to see that other people have had similar experiences and that even insurance companies don't know what they're talking about sometimes.

when you're told you may well have had a stroke and/or brain tumour and are at a high risk of another stroke it's only natural to become anxious, even if you don't believe it's true

My Wife, Son and I are now with MSH Asia Care (Worldwide Except US cover).

There are some minor limitations such as Max room charge 5440 Baht (after which we pay), the policy otherwise matches BUPA international, has a 32,000,000 baht per year ceiling (vs 5,000,000 baht with BUPA Thailand - Platinum cover).

Only my Wife has made a claim for a 3 night stay last year (Gastroenteritis) - she said there were no issues with direct settlement at all. 

I too had an issue with BUPA (International) when I first added my Wife.

When applying and when asked if my Wife had had a stay in hospital in the past 5 years I'd included that she'd had hospital stay as a result of a UTI (Urinary tract infection - not uncommon).

Upon receiving the Policy I noticed that BUPA had excluded a number of 'Abdominal issues'... I argued with BUPA that having once had a broken leg does not increase the risk of another broken leg, or a dislocated knee etc... and with a non symptomatic UTI there exists no chance of a related recurrence.  

BUPA finally agreed to remove the UTI and 'abdominal issues' (the specifics of which I fail to remember) from the Policy after a series irritating communication - Sheryl's explanation above would make sense in that I felt I was dealing with someone without any medical knowledge only referencing a 'risk matrix'....  

My whole family are now with a different insurer after BUPA's premiums increased at a rate I considering unreasonable when compared with their competition. 

28 minutes ago, ThaiWai said:

You missed the whole point.  I don't work there.  I am also not a licensed pharmacist.  Simple enough for you??

As I have witnessed with numerous issues myself, commented on by my friends and discussed countless times on this forum the issue is not what you (we) are after, but that we are not asking the right questions... 

For anyone who has been here any length of time the 'no hab' response is all too typical...  its usually because the staff are lazy and disinterested.... You have to make it easier for them by asking the 'right question'... this would be pretty sound advise for anyone in any area of Thailand...  listen to Thai's on the phone and you will discover that a simple becomes a long drawn out process as the ambiguities and vaguenesses are narrowed down to a more specific answer... 

This is tragic... I don't want to bash Thai's and any negative comment will most certainly bring out the accusations of Thai bashing, however, when I read news such as this, it is clear that the vast majority of these tragic events are easily avoidable if not for a little serving of common sense a helping of education and dose of 'give a flook' from those in positions of decision making power and enforcement... 

While tragic accidents such as this occur globally, in many places when they do they are considered 'freak accidents'... in Thailand it really is such a shame that a country we (Thai Visa members) love is so frequently marred tragic events to the degree that society becomes numb to consequence. 

There are some rather hypocritical dual standards in play here... 

Does it not occur to those in positions of power that those at Maeklong Market are not in far greater breech of the regulations 'Nate' has broken,  but more consistently so and placing more people in danger ?

I think everyone agrees that this guy is a bit of a d!ck and had this coming, however, the hypocrisy and attitude somewhat stinks when a far greater degree of trespassing occurs daily elsewhere on the railways...  

In fact, this comes across as highly childish and xenophobic of the authorities to even pay attention to this...

The response really should be "Big deal, we have greater issues to be dealing with" !!!!... 

This whole facade is ridiculous... Yes, the guy appears to be somewhat of a pr!ck.. big deal... 

He placed a coin on a railway track, again, big deal... get over it.. If you don't like him (and I don't), don't watch him. 

He's hardly offensive, just irritating. 

As for the trespassing charge, look at any market along the tracks and you will see the very same trespassing, much worse in fact. The Train Market in Bangkok is an example of this trespassing in the extreme. 

The Scorpion Vs Cat issue was much worse. 

His p!sh taking of Thai's speaking English is just that, a p!sh take... some sensitive people need to chill out a little. 

IMO - the only bad thing he has done is 'Scorpion Vs Cat' (which I haven't watched but heard about on this forum), the rest is simply juvenile click bait..... 

On a slightly different note: Regarding Coin crushing. These weren't Thai coins, so it appears he was switched on enough not to use Thai Coins (which must irritate the authorities who I'm sure were hoping they could use this against him !).

Has anyone seen the Coin crushing machines in the kids play area's in Bangkok ??... Put in a coin, turn the handle and it turns your (Thai) coin into a flat disc... 

There are lots of listings on hipflat, however, the Agents do not update their lists and about 80-90% of what you see on hipflat and Agents websites are old and expired listings....

The Agents only want your details and try to push unrealistic or undesirable units your way, it takes a lot of patience dealing with these chancers, some agents are better than others... Some are total time wasters...

That said, in Sukhumvit 20, 300sqm with a 80k baht per month asking price is reasonable.

The owner is chancing his luck by increasing the rent by 10k baht.

Have a plan B and be ready to move...

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

6 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

I have a Facebook account and it is probably ruining my relationship with everybody, because I don't use it at all anymore. I get hundreds of messages I don't look at which clog up my email, and I have hundreds of friend requests, some from very nice people whom I like a lot. But I don't accept any friend requests because it seems to increase the messages and friend requests by an order of magnitude. And why do I want the whole world to know what I said to Fred, or that I liked an article. It's none of their business.

I wish Facebook was on my side letting me create a custom experience, where likes and comments and messages were mine alone to know about. That would be awesome. Why do people want to have a timeline? You might as well build a glass house.

Likes are your own to know about... up until the point you post them on an Internet site. You have to publicly state that you like something and you are free to keep opinions private in a private message. 

I have none of these issues with Facebook - I have had an account for years, no one can search me, no one can see the comments I make. Only friends can see the comments I or friends make on my own page. 

I comment only in private groups regarding meet ups, football games etc

I never comment on religious or political issues on friends sites, mainly because I don't want to get into a public argument. 

There are many ways to avoid the issues people have with privacy settings and by avoiding posting. If you feel you must make a comment which you wish to keep private you can send a private message.

I am only friends with people I know, whom I would say hi to when passing in the street, its incredible how many that adds up to... they are not friends, but they are acquaintances.

The real use for Facebook is to share photos with family and friends, my wife does this and it can be done privately enough. 

1 hour ago, steelepulse said:

So you stab someone and you can be out in less than 2 years?  That doesn't seem like a very heavy penalty for attempting to kill someone who doesn't want one of your <deleted> watches.

While at Uni in the UK a friend was stabbed in the stomach (in an unprovoked attack). The guy who stabbed him served 6 months of a 12 month sentence, it was his second offense. 

It seems penalties everywhere for such a heinous crime (which is ultimately attempted murder) are very weak. 

It nearly always takes at least two idiots to create an accident... 

In this case a complete twit of a taxi driver who at the last second and without any consideration to anyone else decides to use the BRT (Bus) lane - Why? because he's likely to get away with it. 

Also another driver in a truck, clearly going too fast, clearly of the belief that he too is the rightful user of the BRT (Bus) lane - Why? because he's likely to get away with it. 

Just two total self centered and selfish morons making the roads dangerous for everyone else around them... and they get away with it because the law enforcement is so consistently lazy, slack, careless and ultimately ineffective. 

With that said: decent reactions of the truck to avoid the taxi, however, he very nearly took out the Camera car which could have then spun or hit another car, motorcycle etc with more serious consequences. 

This time - a lucky escape. Always assume everyone else on the road around you is an idiot who can do any at any time, expect the expected, predict the unpredictable... but sometimes idiots on the road will excel themselves and even expecting the unexpected can't help... 

Most will offer some degree (slight discount) for yearly vs monthly payment, its not too much though.

Check the 'ceiling' of the policy you are looking at. 

BUPA Thailand have fairly limited payouts... i.e. the small 'stuff' is covered, but the serious, major issues which may cost millions of baht to treat could leave your policy already maxed out and having to pay the remainder... 

If I'm not mistaken the Platinum Policy covers up to 5 Million Baht per year. 

Other Policies which may be of interest (which also include direct settlement)

BUPA International (more expensive, comprehensive cover)

AXA (Not the cheapest but comprehensive cover)

MSH (best value for money vs degree of cover IMO)

I believe the Major point for the Op to Consider is Cost: 

Does she have medical insurance which covers Child Birth and complications as a result of Childbirth?

Does her medical insurance cover congenital defects of the Child ?

Usually insurance covers the child for Up to a certain period, after which point the Child may require their own cover. 

In my case I took out separate cover for my child from the point of Birth - this was to ensure that he was full covered without pre-existing conditions exception should there be any congenital defects which persisted after the initial 90 day parental cover. 

IF any of this is too much for the Op and she doesn't have sufficient medical cover there is only one logical answer IMO: Have the baby in Australia (be careful of travel dates as birth draws closer as some airlines have strong restrictions on pregnant ladies traveling).

IF the Op has full medical cover including maternity costs and complications as a result of maternity & Child Birth and IF she can get full Medical insurance Cover for her child - then I would recommend a top hospital here in Thailand - Namely Bumrungrad which is universally and widely renowned as the best hospital in Thailand, I have no reason or experience (of 20 years living here) to question that.