richard_smith237

I agree with that.... greater speed 'can' put you at greater risk. I agree that someone is more inclined to ride a more powerful bike at greater speed. But, when on a highway, the stability and capability of a 'bigger bike' compared to a scooter makes the bigger bike safer, and the reasons for that are numerous. One of them being - on a 'faster highway'... If you want to ride on the main lane, you have to ride at the same speed as the surrounding traffic and doing so may mean that you can get 'trapped' between trucks etc or end up with an idiot tailgating you etc I want to extract myself from those situations and its much easier (and safer IMO) to do so on a more powerful bike. On a scooter if you want to avoid such issues you'd have to drift to the frontage part of the road (I'm not sure what its called, but some people think its a motorcycle lane), which IMO is more dangerous to ride on... Same here, because I don't ride on the highway - I'm happy with a 300cc scooter... Note: you mentioned Sukhumvit rd (which I assume to mean Pattaya) - but thats not a highway, that I'd class as a 'inner city road' and I'd agree that a scooter is more than fine for this... When referring to highway riding, I mean the major roads between cities... where the traffic is often at 90-120km (even though speed limits are 90 kmh).

Your implication that "unless you like to end your life as flat-pack on the road" suggests every one who rides a motorcycle dies from a motorcycle accident... Your response has no critical intellect to it whatsoever... its just a typical emotional knee jerk response... If you were to suggest that those riding a motorcycle should first evaluate their risk profile and make and informed choice balancing convenience and that risk - that would be an intelligent response. Yours is far from it... as pointed out the usually, poorly thought out, ill-educated, knee-jerk response of someone who hasn't really given the subject critical thought.

Which is completely irrelevant when considering the Ops request for information and the fact that fitness and health experts suggest otherwise... Have you ever even tried to use them ? Ha

Looks like they have a Decathlon Chiang Mai out on the ring road. I'll be in the vicinity next weekend and will check them out. Thanks! You can check their stock online on the Decathlon Website. For example - they don't have 8kg Kettlebells in stock - but you can order and they will deliver.

I'll go back to my original point, if you keep needing to get out of trouble, you need to change your riding style Which not a wholly valid response... you are missing the issue (or refuse to recognise) that a scooter and its lack of power could be the issue placing a rider at greater risk on a highway in the first place.... ... having more power to move away from a position of risk is a facet of defensive riding that a scooter does not offer. .... The brakes & tyre contact are also a lot better on a larger motorcycle... Thus, your argument would be like suggesting if a rider needs to emergency brake or brake hard, they need to adjust their riding style... which would be a dumbed down over simplification of a bigger picture.

As below...

There are no hard and fast rules... It varies... All the Thai's say my son looks very Western. All the Westerners say my son looks very Asian.

I've travelled to (worked in) a lot of ropey area... (some of them... proper Sh... holes)... One thing that always strikes me is the amount of rubbish & litter. We could be placed in any location and just by the amount of rubbish around we can tell the level of development of the Nation. ... of course, that's an assumed generalisation and I'm sure there are very poor nations which don't have a littler issue, but in general I see this patter. In Thailand - the issue is simply education.... Thai's are incredibly nationalistic on a personal level, yet seem to have complete disregard for their nation on a public level - perhaps thats true of many nations... The UK had a massive litter issue until they went full stream ahead with anti-litter campaigns in the 70's and 80's... perhaps its time for more campaigns again, as some area's of the UK are atrocious now, where as other area's considered more affluent don't... ... perhaps the issue is simply down to the general socio-economics and education of those in the area.

Dealing with this specifically... How is making payment via prompt pay or QR code putting your finances at any greater risk than using internet banking ?? You seem to be expressing a degree of paranoia or just looking for reasons not to evolve with the times. I agree with something just being a 'personal preference' but that is an emotional choice which you are attempting to back up with some flaky reasoning and bias - potential issues which are most commonly cited by those who don't like cashless payments are extremely rare, these same people who don't like PromptPay and QR code payments etc... must surely have been using debit cards for years, no ? - thats also cashless... So, it seems its the use of the mobile phone itself to make the transaction which develops some resistance for some, but the excuses are often quite flawed when looking at the bigger picture pro's and con's in comparison with cash. - I have had the Bank App not work once, for about 5 mins... (that was a few years back)....

I don't want to use my local account. I want to use cash via ATM from an account in the UK. Why is my business. Then it is your inflexibility which is causing you issues, then you complain about it. I get your point and agree that all payment options should be available to the customer, but they are not - so you are just making life harder for yourself. I expect that more places will become cashless. Yes. I've read too many tales of potential or actual fraud, or the bank app not working here. I do internet banking only on my laptop. I see no advantage at all in putting my account at risk just to join the 'modern age'. Putting your finances at risk isn't progression, it is the opposite. I'm nearly 100% cashless here... never an issue. You're over egging the risk - that said, I use a 'smaller' account for the day to day transactions, QR payments etc... and only have that one ATM card in my wallet (as there is a risk of skimming too)... only a little amount is kept in that account which is topped up when needed Sometimes our own stubbornness causes us problems or issues - its seems this is the case here (no offence intended with that, but it does appear to be the case).

One of the biggest frustrations with the news here is that when we read these stories, many of which attract discussion and debate there is very rarely if ever any follow up... while not important to our own lives, it would be nice to know the outcome.

Edit - see that you are comparing to the same month last year. How often do you have the AC units cleaned (we do ours at least once per year but try to do it every 6 months)... Increased usage could be due to the AC having to work hard to achieve the same in-room temperature (due to being dirtier etc). Its possible. One way to check is to turn everything off inside your house and see if the meter is still running.

100% - the Drs are not doing their job properly unless they ask these questions & make a professional examination. This is a very odd accusation. But… she may well have been examined before & is familiar with the process & identified that this Dr went too far perhaps?

There roads in Thailand, on which smaller bikes are not permitted but bigger bikes are ? You watched that on a Youtube video too ?

Thats because you lack the critical thought to identify the difference.... and you've highlighted this with some strange accusation that 'you people wear salad bowls for a helmet or sometimes not helmet at all'... thats some very odd strawmanship... You clearly didn't even think before putting finger to keypad... Those riding 'bigger motorcycles' are most commonly those with the best safety kit...

Who is AL ? Artificial indeed... Not a lot of intelligence in handing over 200,000 baht to an agent up front... ... that doesn't help the Op though... Could he file a police report as part of a scam - then show the agent and if she doesn't refund threaten to file charges ?... Ops objective is surely to get his PR... so it could push the agent into action. The real possibility that he'll get any money back is extremely thin IMO - the agent is probably broke !

There is certainly an element of familiarity breeds contempt in a lot of the responses.... There are a lot of places where the customer service is excellent.... But there are a lot of places and companies where it is attrocious. Try and make a complaint to a business here and its very difficult. Try and make a complaint to any form of public entity and its impossible. Its not all about whether or not the staff top up your beer and remember to add one ice cube instead of two.... A lot of customer service is about an establishment being able to respond to questions... Thailand does seem rather poor at this especially if the questions are outside of the usual 'colouring lines'...

I agree with this... we should have a choice of how to pay - any smart business will give the customer as many payment options as possible to avoid disappointing the customer - especially in a service industry where repeat custom is often essential. That said, there are many 'anti-cashless' arguments are are highly flawed and revolve around a lot of 'whativery'... Many systems have their pro's and cons... Cash, Credit Card, Debit Card, Tap'n'go, QR Payment, PromptPay, ApplePay, GoogleWallet etc... In these times, even for those who for whatever reasons are against cashless payment it would be sensible for anyone to have a back-up option... especially in Thailand where that backup option is local account with QR payment - its not hard to set up at all. Also... many argue against cashless payment yet forget credit cards and debit cards have been around for years - are they also uncomfortable using these ?

I haven't read the whole thread - so a lot of this may be covered... two points I'm responding to. 1) - Cashless - Does the Op not have a local Bank Account linked to his phone ? It would be very surprising for anyone to go to an establishment and find out they don't accept cash, but I guess that issue is growing. Its a very foolish policy IMO. BUT... its also foolish not to move with the times, especially when going to places such as this (i.e. more modern places which may be following more modern trends). 2) - Response to e-mails / being able to get hold of a person.... I completely agree, customer service in this aspect is very poor. Some businesses do better than others - international and local. E-mail just doesn't work in Thailand any more - no one replies to a mail.

Only in your mind. Perhaps its in my mind.... impossible to know for sure - I know I recevied a little more 'raod respect' on a larger bike than on a scooter. I also noticed the same when driving a large expensive SUV compared to a very small car - I nearly had more accidents in the smaller car, as I'd drive in a similar manner... i.e. in heavy Bangkok traffic, having to nudge out of a junction and 'force' my way in, or trying to change lanes... a lot of drivers would just not want to give way to the smaller car to the point of nearly hitting me. I agree - a rider should never be in that circumstance as about - lots of people saying shoulda, coulda... the fact is situations exist whereby a little power helps you 'get out of a spot'.... Riding along at 80kmh, lorry behind you... feeder lane joining, you see another lorry trying to join ahead of you... are you going to accelerate into the right hand lane on a scooter ??... and join the traffic going 100-110kmh ?... its not going to happen, you'll get trapped. On a larger bike you can squeeze the throttle and exit the situation with far greater ease... any experienced rider will tell you the same thing, I don't know why 'as a rider' you'd dispute this. Perhaps.... but thats a different point - plenty of people on scooter that should never be riding either. I'll go back to my original point: More powerful capable bikes are far safer for highway and open road riding than scooters. Scooters are a lot more practical around town... I wouldn't want to ride one at highway speeds.

I'm sure people make mistakes and transfer to the wrong bank all the time. Could you contact your own back and ask that they rescind the transition ? (just a guess, I'm not even sure if this is possible).

This animal has proven he doesn't deserve the right to be treated humanely as a human - he is sub-human and his treatment should be swift and effective. Remove him from it ever being possible that he could do something similar again.

Is the Op in the UK or in Thailand already - I'm not sure if that has been made clear.

'Resident Visa' = Non-Immigrant Visa or extension thereof. I would advise anyone coming who intends to drive, to bring an IDP, regardless of my understanding of the regulations - as I pointed out earlier - I have in the past read an official document that mentions the 90 day / resident visa issue. As you mentioned, discussions have been ongoing for years and it seems to be somewhat of a grey area which is easily overcome by getting an IDP for tourists. And, if in the country any longer than 90 days, get a Thai DL... All ambiguity is then removed.

I don't get into trouble, guys like you that do, frequently, need to improve your riding skill You'll never know... especially if on a the highway... you can end up in the left lane between two trucks, thats not a position any rider likes to be in.... on a larger bike you can squeeze the throttle and exit that situation. Alternatively, on a scooter you are stuck on the non-road part of the frontage, that some people believe is the motorcycle lane and IMO thats even more hazardous... This whole big-bike, small bike debate depends a lot on where you are riding, what type of roads etc... There is also the visibility factor - I've ridden ADV bikes in Thailand and scooters... When on a scooter, no one sees you - you are ignored and just another poor pleb who doesn't matter. If on a larger bike, you are noticed more - you are not ignored you are wealthier and not another pleb who doesn't matter. This makes a difference in Thailand where peoples subconsciousness impacts how visible you are. That said: Riding around a tight town, small roads with heavy traffic, lane filtering etc - its just a lot easier on a scooter.