richard_smith237

Its just slang... thats all... Clumsy ? yes... professional ? no... Offensive - only of you want to shoe-horn offence out of pretty much nothing.

You'll have to PM Goat...

Ok it's in Thai so it's easy to miss but the title has the word Farang and there is a #Farang hashtag in the YouTube video also. I should have put this in the original post but it would be something like "Negro man hits and kills white women's son. #Negros" in an American context. It's pretty shocking for a national news channel if you ask me. No it wouldn't not at all... All you are doing is trying to shoe-horn racism and xenophobia out of an everyday story. There is enough xenophobia out there without making it up from a non-story and weakening any potential real issues. I've seen numerous videos of car / motorcycle / cycling fatalities today and the one involving a foreigner is not reported on with nationalistic bias whatsoever. YOUR interpretation of the manner in which 'farang' us used is flawed. While the use of the word in this context from a professional news source is highly clumsy, it doesn't point to xenophobia or racism, it simply points in naive and innocently ignorant news team thats all. There are enough issues already, without trying to shoe-horn this rubbish into outrage.

Indeed.... And Ralf wants a front row seat !!!! .....

Agree.. places evolve and develop. If you are looking for a load of back-packers in dreadlocks all watching Titanic in a bar thats not KSR anymore. But, it is still a back-packers 'go to area' in Thailand.... the difference is the back-packers have also evolved with it. Fundamentally, KSR remains the same - its a place that attracts young foreign tourists and back-packers.... always has, that has not changed. The difference also is that the young foreign tourists are no longer that stereotyped dreadlocks, guitar, Reggie listening, wearing elephant pants waking around barefooted etc... (although many still try for that look)... The place always was extremely busy, very loud etc... I'm not sure that 'chilled out vibe' was ever there in the evening... It was just a place to go out and have fun.

It still is... The difference is that you are 25 years older... As am I, I wouldn't dream of going there now... But, in my 20's and even early 30's... it was great... ... So was RCA (Route 66 / Slim / 808)... So was Ekammai / Tonglor (Zantika, Booze, Funky Villa, Song Salung, Escudo, Taurus), then others further up the road near Langsuan... (70's bar)... also a loads of Thai clubs and bars I'd go to with Thai friends or a mix of Thai foreign friends.... Loads of places... All excellent, but I've outgrown them, as have most of my friends... We just don't 'do that stuff anymore' because were older... and yes, those places are just way to loud (they always were but we'd put up with it at the time).

Nothing changed - what you described is pretty much how its always been. The only difference is that you became old and tainted.... and turned into a GoM unless drunk.... That probably applies to many of us. In the noughties... we'd go out in KSR every few nights... it was a great place to be (and was not just foreigners, but lots of places that a majority of Thai's went to... Bangkok Bar, Austins, Suzies.... also the Club in its earlier years). I wouldn't dream of going out there now... as much fun as it used to be, I'm not interested in that party lifestyle anymore - I've grown out of it and dinner with plenty of friends is more my thing.

Exactly as I see it... I don't see any anti-'farang' stigmatisation in this report at all... Its just reporting on an event, whereby it so happens that the driver is Foreign. My Wife showed me the video for the drunk driver (Thai) killing two morning cyclists in DUI incident... the drunk driver just swerved, mowed the middle two riders down (killing them) and the front and rear rider (of the 4) were not hit. When the only video's Thai's show us are only of Foreigners doing something wrong, then we'll know there is some underlying stigmatisation of 'Farangs'... until then... I think this is just, news. I expect a little 'excess media attention' against 'Farangs' as all sources now have their 'flavour of the month' attention grabber, but that will wear thin soon enough... Expected at about Songkran time, when all the Thai's are killing each other on the roads (until another DUI Westerner kills a Thai).

Not always... in the past the BiB have specifically targeted foreigners, particularly the Thonglor BiB in Bangkok were famous for it - Embassies had to get involved and make formal complaints as the BiB were getting more and more brazen in their 'shake-down'... - one example I recall is making a 70 year old (who was waking down Sukhumvit with his western wife) pee in a cup for a drugs test..... .... many other similar stories too. This was the BiB targeting foreigners in the hope they weren't carrying a passport, tested positive in a pee test and they could extort them for 'on the spot fines'... That said: In over two decades, street interaction with the BiB here has been very minimal - there were the notorious 'shakedown' years (by Thonglor BiB), otherwise the BiB for the most part not have bothered me. I've had the Police 'try' and pull me from a Taxi on four separate occasions... It comes down to whether the BiB think they can get away with extorting you or not if you fit one of their profiles. i.e. - Older guy getting on a bus to Pattaya - Check the baggage for Viagra, extort farang. - Young guys going out - check pockets for coke / ecstasy / Pee test etc. The real question begs: IS this a case where a 'Westerner' was targeted by the BiB becuase of recent negative headlines against foreigners... OR... is this something the same Police would have checked anyway becasue the guy really did look suspiciuous. My guess (and its purely a guess)... Bored BiB at a checkpoint just figured, ok, lets see if we can get any money from this guy... nothing more too it than that. ----------- The occasions the BiB wanted to pull me out of a taxi all felt like a shakedown... or the beginnings of a shakedown - none felt like the BiB were operating under the best of intentions. 1) Late Afternoon with Wife (car in garage getting serviced) took a taxi to friends house - getting on Expressway (near Suk 71) the BiB stopped the taxi... Looked into the window at my Wife and I... stared in for what felt like 1 minute or so, then decided not to press anything any further and waved us on - It was a very weird place to stop us. 2) Early Evening - Asoke junction. BiB (about 7 or 8 of them), just pulled up my taxi and told me to get out, I refused. Asked for Passport, I refused and held up Thai Driving licence, they weren't interested, BiB told me to get out, I refused and called a friend. BiB spoke with friend and waved me and the taxi on. In this case I was certain the BiB were going to get me to pee in a cup etc (I had nothing to worry about, I just didn't want to play their power game so played my own power game). 3) Early Morning (3am-ish) - Thonglor area (back streets), BiB stopped the taxi, then asked me where I was going. Home.. they seemed to give up with that and waved the taxi on. 4) Early Morning (3am-ish) - Thonglor area (back streets), BiB stopped the taxi, BiB asked for my Passport. I said No.. BiB asked for ID, I said No (I wasn't in the mood to play around)..... I was about to tell the taxi and the Police that we can all go to the nearby police station if they want but I'm not stopping on a dark back-street - The BiB seemed to change their mind and then waved the taxi on. In all of the examples given above, I was left wondering if the BiB we trying it on (Asoke example they were definitely trying it on), in other examples I suspect they were gauging the situation and could see I was not intimidated by them and as such perhaps not an easy mark (who knows)...

No. Just their rule. The cost of 1700 for a private room isn't an issue, comfort is. And it isn't a great hospital. When I was there with food poisoning there was no water one day as the pump failed and they carried water to my room in buckets, and the emergency call button didn't work. Someone could die in that room and no-one would know the hospital was at fault. Yeah.. I get you... Their insistence on you staying overnight is a little odd given the procedure. I'm a few weeks into recovery from an operation - given the time of the Op (4pm) staying over night was not an option. Had I pushed it, I could have had an op on a different day in the morning and not stay over night... As it turned out I was offered the opportunity of staying a second night, which I took as I'd asked for far stronger pain-killers and some solid sleeping tablets as I was 'hurtin' rather a lot.... Anyway... As mentioned, clearly its not a cost thing, perhaps a 'caution' thing given your years which is never a bad thing. I guess we'd all rather they air on the side of caution and offer great care rather than kick us out... But.... as you mention, the standard of care varies... for 1700 baht a night, those sort of hospitals usually expect someone else to stay in a room with you to help out... Where as the 13,500 baht a night rooms are a lot more attentive. Best of luck with the Op anyway... Sure it'll go smoothly and within months you'll have also done the glaucoma jobby and will be identifying the moon-landing sites with the naked eye !!!

Criteria that doesn’t actually matter to 99% of passengers. 😕 Very true.... the criteria listed (eg Champagne and caviar) is completely ridiculous from the 'evaluation of an airport' even from a luxury perspective.... That said - regardless of what the criteria is - I find Suvarnabumi Airport quite a decent airport... I've travelled through it so often, a few hundred times and never have any issues......

Would you bring your own Air-Supply / tank so you don't have to breath in the thick traffic fumes on sukhumvit.. Also, spare clothing to change into after getting hot and sweaty while stuck in traffic ??? The reason AC taxi's are popular is that people want the AC not a tuk-tuk... If only these Apps (Grab) were as reliable as they were 5 years ago.. .

I did similar way back when UBER and GRAB were in competition... It was by only negative UBER encounter here. I'd ordered an UBER from a friends house, driver accepted the ride, was about 5 mins away but didn't move for 20 mins... I didn't care, I was at a friends house chilling... but it was clear this driver didnt want the ride (once he'd accepted and found out the destination) so he'd waited me out, hoping that I'd cancel. Instead I'd booked a GRAB and was home... before the UBER driver himself cancelled. Sometimes the drivers just don't want the journey, but have to accept so many out of x number of fares that pop up within their vicinity otherwise they'll loose some sort of 'rating' within the App..... What I now see is that the drivers just don't care about their rating anyway, so the call up to cancel, or just cancel themselves etc... It turns a great service into something we can no longer rely on. First world problems ???... Yes, it is a first world problem, but while we like to see Thailand develop and improve, this silly juvenile stuff really lets it down sometimes.

Kind of removes the convenience... Having just spent much of Dec / Jan / Feb in the UK, France and Japan... I hardly used cash... I hardly got my Wallet out at all.. All payment either through Apple Pay (tap the phone on the billing machine) or through a direct App like UBER... Extremely convenient without having to mess about with change etc. This is also the way it was with GRAB and UBER at the start - very simply linked to a credit card (in my case my local Thai credit card)... and that was that.... Then UBER was nudged out, drivers started rejecting 'non-cash' fairs, BOLT started up, cash only and a lot of drivers jumped to them (now bold have a credit card payment option). Now we have cheaper BOLT, but not drivers wanting to take the ride because they are trying to get rides on Grab for 4x there fare rates. Its very rare I get a BOLT... its becoming harder and harder to get a Grab. I used to use them all the time, numerous times throughout the week because it was so convenient. No I get the wife to take me everywhere... because Grab and Bolt have become a PITA to use. Going to the Airport last month friends had a GRAB car (that they'd booked the day before) just cancel on them early in the morning, they nearly missed their flight... Its no longer worth the risk and Book and AOT limo next time.

The initial low prices were comparable to using flag-fall fare taxis... but with the ease and simplicity of using the app to make the booking. Competition with UBER ensured service standards were competitive. FFWD to Grab nudging UBER out of the market (and giving them 30% of Grab ride hailing revenue) and that was that.. competition demolished, service standards dropped, prices went up. In any major city I've been to recently, UBER or its local Equivalent works extremely well, is efficient, simple, excellent service - I don't need to think or worry about availability - it just works and has done for years. In Thailand, things have changed - Out this weekend, not in a central area, but not outskirts by any means (think Bangkapi area) I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to easily get a Grab back to my home late at night - in any other major city I've been to recently this is an absolute no brainer. I'm not so sure it does mean lower wages - If the Grab service is extremely reliable, people will use it more. The price don't need to be 4x... but a little more than flagfall ensures convenient simple reliable service that will be used. Currently - if I want to go to Sukhumvit Soi 11, I have to consider getting home after midnight. That means either accepting a 400-500 baht 'non-metered' fare... or walking to Sukhumvit, then trying to get a flagfall fare, though they still refuse the meter but offer a more realistic 200 or 300 baht fixed fare. As far as Grab & Bolt - at that time its nearly a 100% guarantee that no driver will take Grab or Bolt ride. IMO - I agree... GRAB has certainly driven the 'ride sharing' Taxi business model backwards in Thailand.... Or rather, Thainess has... as GRAB works perfectly well in Singapore.

I did, and they said I need to. Did they give any explanation as to why ??? Your age etc, additional health risks ?

Then tell them that - just say you don't want to stay over night - My guess is the response will be nothing more than an..."Oh... ok then".... Yep... You will be admitted as its is a surgical procedure, but you can be treated on an out patient or inpatient basis (Depending on your perforce to have a recovery room over night). Thus the 'admitted part' vs out-patient and in-patient is somewhat of a grey area, its sometimes just called 'same day surgery' to avoid the ambiguity - the outpatient vs inpatient part simply determines if an overnight stay is required and thus, preferences rather than requirements can also come into it. In your shoes - if you don't want to - just tell them you want to go home after a few hours. IF the hospital objects, I'd want to know on what grounds ?? (are they digging for the extra money etc ?). Also - Insurance coverage - some only covers Inpatient treatment, thus, the wording could cause an issue with the policy - if admitted, make sure they put 'inpatient' on the forms (even if you don't stay over night - if your insurance only covers IPD).

You cannot police everyone all of the time. That does not excuse the SOP of not policing anyone all of the time. How many times have these girls, 3 up on a motorcycle, without helmets, passed a policeman who is theoretically responsible for protecting the public... Some Policing some of the time may have been sufficient to prevent this and similar tragedies. Equally so, as would responsible parenting.

You make a lot of assumptions for someone who highlights with such frequency their flawed mental capacity.

Making it an option... Have you said that you want to be discharged the same day ???... Have they said no ? If you are not asking the right questions, then you'll just be treated the same as anyone else who doesn't ask questions. No harm in staying the extra night... unless its something you don't want to do. I could be wrong, but I don't think its an 'out-patient procedure' (*like going to and getting an ingrown toenail dealt with)... I think procedures such as this are considered a 'day case' where you are 'admitted' and will have a recovery room etc.. its then up to you how long you want to spend recovering and of course they advise based on caution and why wouldn't they. As I see it and similar issues - much of the decision can come down to what you want.

That it does rhyme with brick, Nick, thick.... P$%£ of the Year indeed...

Agreed... too predicable from this guy... clearly trying to trigger an 'islamaphobia' debate....

Yawn... Yawn indeed and the victim mentality is somewhat predictable... But why ??... could it be that thesetat's comments ring true ? Had this been a foreigner the netizen outrage would have secured the attention and firm response of the authorities... In this case - nothing to see here, just a feckless Thai... If a westerner, outrageous behavior, deport him... I'd be confident that the resulting treatment and penalties would not be the same.

I didn't see his dick. I think he posts on this forum under the moniker... IvorBiggerun.....

Recyclable laptops perhaps, so he can set up an AN account and read your promise of a meal + beer ??... Nice sentiment though - it would be nice to bump into the old fella and shout up a meal and beer for him