5 hours ago, JoeyMac said:

I've also decided to call the tourist police. 

Careful with this...   

The task of the Tourist Police is to actually Police the tourists...   They are not necessarily 'on your side' and more than likely to just agree with anything their peers suggest.

As already mentioned by others - the best thing you can do is have a 'respectable' Thai friend come along with you, someone you trust who can communicate and translate on your behalf in a manner in which the Thai Police will listen to.

---------

I had an accident years ago... In a Multi-story car Park... I was going slowly looking for a place to park (office hours), an impatient driver behind me decided to overtake and in doing so simply scraped the side of my car.

Within minutes we had about 20 of her colleagues with her as support - all wanting to 'blame the farang' (they were simply supporting her)....    Insurance came, Police came... no one except the car park security guard saw the incident, and as he was on the other side of the car park, he didn't really see it...   after speaking with the security guard who was influenced by the crowd the BiB and Insurance agreed that it was my fault.... I refused to sign - so we were instructed to both attend the Police station after work.

I called a close friend who's quite senior in the police... we've known each other very closely for a long time.

I explained what happened. He called the Police station...  called me back..  its dealt with, no need to bother going to the Police station...   turns out the other driver didn't have insurance...  Insurance came to see me and I signed for 50% responsibility so my insurance would pay for my damages only.

In an earlier incident years later - I didn't even need to get as far as calling my friend, I was able to convince the BiB that at accident was not my fault, I was police, but firm and stubborn...  with plenty of photo evidence etc.. the eventually came around.

Its good to have either the confidence of a someone as back-up, or to actually use that back-up... 

It can't be understated the effectiveness of having a respected Thai available to back you up... this places you on an even playing field you may otherwise find yourself at a disadvantage on.

12 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

On 5/16/2024 at 1:43 PM, JoeyMac said:

If the cost is enormous, and i refuse to pay then what happens ?

 

I have already signed a brief statement to say i dropped my bags on the floor, and the other rider fell. 

The statement most likely was in Thai language, are you sure what you signed for?

Valid point - The statement would have been in Thai...   

Did the Op get a copy of his signed statement ?...     Someone could translate it for him.

In theory at least, he could have signed that he's 100% to blame for everything - he'll have little ground to stand on.

Never sign anything you don't fully understand, especially at a Police Station. 

11 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Where in the OP does it say  'pre-made frozen Indian Curries' 

Your assumptions resulting in another useless comment from you.

Can you help the Op ??

Indian Food on Grab Delivery ?....   (not fresh food from a restaurant)...  but a food delivery place, supermarket etc.. something similar to... you guessed it... the Not Just Meat website. 

Deleted... can't be bothered arguing with tools

1 minute ago, FritsSikkink said:

Grab delivers any type of food.

Does Grab deliver 'pre-made frozen Indian Curries' ???...    I think the Op was after this sort of stuff... 

So, from where? because with Grab, you still have to specify the store, so just saying "Grab delivers any type of food" means absolutely nothing, its of no assistance at all. 

On 5/12/2024 at 2:19 AM, NONG CHOK said:

I walk around the Wongamat area at 6am every morning, my walks usually last 2 hours. I strictly walk on the right side so I can see the coming traffic. I prefer that than having those cretins coming up behind me.

Very sensible... particularly if there is no pavement / sidewalk to walk on.

I'll add, if walking down the pavement or sidewalk, I'll always walk on the 'road-side' side of my Wife, the same with my Son... I'll place myself between the road and them... 

... the issue in Thailand of course is that there are other 'dangers' from boiling hot oil to soi dogs etc down some streets... so its not only vehicles we have to watch out for, but motorcycles on the pavement, boiling oil at face-height (when  my son was younger)... and the risk of accidentally stepping on a dog etc...  then there are the dodgy drain covers etc... 

... eyes everywhere...    Then there is the risk of handbag snatches.. so when out and about, I tell wife to keep her handbag on her arm, between us...   (I personally know of 3 handbag snatches on friends in the past years in Bangkok - motorcycle thieves)... 

All of the above doesn't take a great deal of thought - just a bit of alertness... 

I'm far more at ease walking down a pavement with my Wife and Son in Japan or my home town in the UK (not cities though) than I am on many of Thailands streets...  

On 5/10/2024 at 10:06 AM, Destiny1990 said:

In most of Pattaya city the majority is usually walking on the right side of the (broken) pavements.

I think we have a perfect example of 'farang think too much'....    

There is no, keep left or keep right, social norm when walking around Thailand, none whatsoever... 

The Op maybe projecting some adaptation of a form of 'escalator etiquette' that exists on public transport systems in some countries onto Thailands pavements / sidewalks. 

13 hours ago, AnotherOneHere said:

 

I'm not talking about coffee. But about Starbucks coffee. They are more than 25% of recommended daily calories intake.

 

Well in that case... 

...   Cut back on cake and desserts, pies, chips etc too... 

I think that covers the point that when you mentioned Starbucks the assumption was that you meant coffee... 'cos if you are referring to 'high calorie' drinks, specifying only Starbucks is somewhat misleading...   

3 hours ago, Mika78 said:

The police headquarters does not release the reason to the Embassy and so I called my lawyer in France: it seems that if 5 years pass without anyone having an identity card, it is reported to the Police Headquarters and the name remains in the system until you have a new identity card. Whether that's true or not, I don't know.

That makes some sense, although the 'block on your passport renewal' seems extremely harsh, particularly as you are overseas... 

... but I guess it ensures that everyone, even those overseas renew their French ID cards.

Is renewal of your French ID card something you can do while overseas ?...    Best to get a renewed ID if you can.

On 5/9/2024 at 11:57 AM, herfiehandbag said:

I have two browsers on my phone, "Brave" and "Chrome". Brave was my preferred browser. AN now does not work on Brave, it works on Chrome, albeit continuously trying to persuade me to sign up to Tik Tok!

 

Anyone any idea what has happened?

I use Brave...  It works on my Phone and on my LapTop... 

The issue is on your side...   Re-install Brave and try again ?

1 hour ago, proton said:

I wonder what the OP paid in sinsot? if you start off shelling out without negotiation especially for an over the top amount they are bound to think you are a soft touch. I forked out 10k to get the mrs brother out of trouble after he had a bike accident with no insurance or license 15 years ago, but nothing after that. That was the only request.

Decent point... 

Most of my friends paid a Sin-sod to go with tradition, as did I...  The Sin-sod was returned.

Perhaps when the 'sin-sod' is not returned a financial precedent is set.

2 hours ago, Celsius said:

11 hours ago, tomgreen said:

So I’m now wondering how others here who are married or in a relationship with a Thai woman deal with any requests for money that come from the Thai wife /  partners parents or family , and do you have any tips or advice on how to deal with those requests for money .

 

Yes. Marry a decent woman and you'll never hear of such requests.

 

Your wife was on this scam all along.

It seems some / plenty of guys who have married Thai women have married those of a poorer socio-economic demographic...    hence the request for money...  It often discussed that from the perspective of some Thai female's the basis of attraction is financial security... In such relationship the request for money is perhaps not uncommon, or it seems so based on many comments here.

But, there are lots of relationships that are not based around the 'financial security' where the socio-economic, educational background and age of the Thai female spouse is in line with that of the foreign husband, the financial strains of the extended family either don't exist, or are not pushed onto the foreign husband. 

I think there is a clear difference between the guys who have retired out here and met a female, decades their junior, for whom life has offered few opportunities....     and guys who have been in Thailand earlier on in their lives and met a 'partner' of equal socio-economic and educational standing...  

It could be a generalisation - but I see more of these 'equal' relationships amongst my friends in Bangkok, where they integrate in a mixed society, have many Thai friends and Western etc...    more like 'normal life' than the 'Disneyland-flesh-Pantomime' that is more normalised in other areas.

For Sausages etc..   pies, bacon etc...   

https://bangkok.sloanes.co.th/

There is also Expat foods, also known by many as SiamBury - based in Pattaya but also deliver to BKK 3x per week.

https://expatfoodsthailand.com/faq/

For curries...   Spicy By Nature (order on Grab) - but thats not 'pre-made curry' - its cooked delivery (but one of the best in BKK IMO).

As far as 'frozen Indian Curry' to order and cook later...   Villa Market used to do Rang Mahal Curries - but I haven't seen them for a while. 

Pre-made curry is actually quite difficult to get hold of.

1 minute ago, arick said:

Why is this news people die every day every hour

Because he was relatively young, overseas, found alone, circumstances of death unknown... 

Now.. Why are you commenting if this is of no interest to you at all ???

1 hour ago, AnotherOneHere said:

For burning you Starbucks coffee taking a 4 hours hike. And another 6 hours hike for the 4 beers you had after lunch. 

A step too far !!....   

Coffee has very low calories (about 2-5)...   so there's no need to miss out on that, just don't add loads of sugar and syrups to it.

As far as beer is concerned...  thats my nemesis... but there is low carb beer available (from 7-11).

13 minutes ago, connda said:

Buying A Motorcycle Without A Greenbook. Yes I Am Nuts !!!!!

 

Yes you are.  So?  Don't do it.

Erm... all you had to do was read a few posts above yours and you'd see that he's already binned the idea... 

3 hours ago, idiot baby said:

Awesome responses everyone.   It was kind of a grail bike for me.  A rare one you don't see often.   Anyway, I'd be nuts to proceed so I'm not.   Hard one to walk away from though. 

22 minutes ago, transam said:

Just looked at my two Thai driving licences, the info on it is in Thai and repeated in English, but, they have written my name in English on the Thai bit as well....😋

Ya gotta love the consistency..... 

While we're all getting hung-up on rules and regulations... the Thai's just don't care, even those in authority !!!  

57 minutes ago, flexomike said:

One thing I forgot was that the lady said because the pink card is only technically good for the provence issued that it would be the same for the drivers license,

IMO not correct...  Although some people try and argue this point in threads debating Pink ID. 

Its been discussed a lot before...

The translation of what is said in the back of the DL.

[ In the case of driving outside the area, use it together with a permission letter to leave the area ]

This is a poor google translation - Your Passport is permission to leave the area (freedom to travel all over Thailand) and this supersedes limitations of the validity of a Pink ID within your province. 

The DL is tied to your Name, DOB, Photo and your identification number for Non-Thai's (in Yellow Book and Pink ID).

57 minutes ago, flexomike said:

didn't want to get into a pissing contest with her because she had already busted my balls for not wearing long pants, had a brand new pair of shorts and a nice shirt, my bad

This sounds like the same grumpy witch I had...  (at DLT Area 3, Bangkok - nr Sukhumvit 99).

I was wearing shorts (but had trousers as backup in the car).

The DLT lady told me that I couldn't go through the process as I was not wearing trousers.

Out of a group of about 20 of us being funnelled through the 'in-class-testing'... I was one foreigner, everyone else Thai.

I pointed out the 3 Thai guys also wearing shorts - she didn't like that.

I then went out, changed into my trousers and quickly returned, she really didn't like that.

A little loss of face on her part I think...  I was not her favourite person, I just got the impression that she didn't like foreigners.

I hardly ever have any issue at all with Thai's or anyone else here, so I put that one down to her being a miserable witch, some people are just like that, whoever we are and however we behave.

Would love to know what level of halfwit is confused by such a simple sentence !!!  

14 minutes ago, flexomike said:

17 minutes ago, flexomike said:

better check, my last  one I used my yellow book, but last week they would not accept it, so off to Immigration for a Certificate of Residence, three hour round trip.

This was in Rayong

I think the proof is only in the pudding... 

There are reports of Some DLT's not accepting the Yellow House Book as proof of Address, which IMO is completely ridiculous as it is the 'ultimate proof of address' that can be given.... 

DLT at Area 3 in Bangkok did accept the Yellow House Book (3.5 yrs ago) - but that you point out that can easily change with the wind direction. 

Though, I wouldn't go there and 'ask' if they accept it... on the premise of 'never as a question you may not like the answer to'...  because if someone is unsure, they'll just say no... whereas, if you are 'going through the process'...  they may just run with it.

I would like to read of a sensible explanation of why the Yellow House Book is not accepted at some DLT's while it is at most...    It seems someone in their position of decision making power was not sure what the book was and decided that they don't accept it - and then that legacy error has passed through without question as no one questions those in authority here.

3 minutes ago, dayo202 said:

If my name was in Thai, then I would get refused a car, unless I get a international driving permit.

You could pick up and IDP while you are there anyway - just to ensure your bases are covered. 

(the 1968 version is valid for 3 years so it could be useful when travelling elsewhere that requires you to show the 1968 one).