richard_smith237

There is plenty of news and info about what did happen... and that has been repeated on this thread. - Low visibility at the Airport. - ATC placed the flight in a holding pattern. - Aircraft held this (holding) pattern for 20 mins. - Pilot made the decision to divert to Sydney based based on fuel reserves. - Flight landed at Sydney (assume it was refuelled there) - Flight landed at final destination (Melbourne) 4 hours later than scheduled. - Passenger publicly criticised the Pilot for his decision to divert and accused him of lying for the reason for the diversion. - Issue reached the Media - Passenger removed his Facebook Post. - Thai Airways instigated legal action against the passenger for Defamation. The passengers complaint was not reasonable. Several other planes were placed in holding patterns. Several other planes were also diverted. The reason was explained to the passengers (diversion due to poor visibility and fuel load). The actions of the Pilot were within all regulations, the fuel load within regulations. The ONLY issue I see here is the 'own goal' of Thai Airways suing a passenger when they could have just simply ignored him and the issue would not have grown arms and legs.

ATC do not arbitrarily "put aircraft into holding patterns" due to destination wx. I haven't implied anything was done arbitrarily... It does appear as though you are 'trying to argue with me'... while at the same time repeating what I have pointed out throughout this thread... its rather odd. erm.. ok.

Yes... You may be able to secure finance when placing a decent deposit (i.e. 40%) you will most certainly need a Thai Guarantor (who also meets the finance requirements). I'm not sure if a work permit is required for this this through, or if they'll accept proof of overseas income / funds.

You are projecting from one example... that and making the flawed assumption that other situations are exactly the same as yours. Over two decades here has shown me that there can be a whole spectrum of issues, some can be dealt with, others can't. You didn't have the connections to resolve your own issues and have therefor projected that when a problem arises elsewhere, its unresolvable. This is an easily resolvable issue, the Op is simply failing to take the correct steps. The situation you describe is different from the Ops - your comparison of multiple people parking in front of your car-port outside a snooker club is not the same as one person parking in front of the Ops carport in a residential estate. Slightly incorrect... There was 'nothing you could do' to change the self entitled, selfish and lazy nature of the Thai men you were exposed to, because you have not integrated enough into society to develop the contacts who can assist you in resolving such issues.... You started your response with 'when are you planning your first trip to Thailand ?'... comment as an attempt to point score and imply I know nothing of solving issues here, in doings so you have actually highlighted that you haven't managed to scratch the surface. Its very likely I could have had your issue resolved quite easily with just a single phonecall.

Its already been shown that there were also other planes that were put in a holding pattern and some also diverted due to poor visibility at the airport. There are numerous reasons for this. In perfect conditions more flights can take off and land as the regulations permit them to be more closely 'stacked'... In poorer visibility conditions flights require more spacing, both take off and landing... This results in delayed flights taking off, and flights being placed in holding pattern while they wait for flights ahead of them to land.

It would have been the pilot's decision to hold for weather improvement or divert to his alternate. If he elected initially to try for Melbourne then he would have been instructed to hold, with a possible "onwards clearance time". Its TOTALLY the pilot's decision to wait and hold or divert. Not ATC's. ATC put the flight in a holding pattern (due to low visibility at the airport). The pilot diverted (after 20 mins of holding) due to fuel reserve concerns. The decision the pilot made was to follow policy.

We get decent points on our Credit Card (which we can transfer across to Thai Airways Miles with their Royal Orchid Plus program). So.. we wanted to Max out our 1.2 MB credit card when purchasing a new car and maximise our points... (then pay off the card at the next billing cycle)... We could pay by card - but would be charged the 3% credit card fees - it wasn't really worth the extra 36,000 baht to do this.

As usual, the under-qualified writers at The Thaiger have 'google translated' a Thai report... I'm pretty sure his arm wasn't detached, rather it was 'dislocated'...

I'm not sure of Asian / Australian rules... but I imagine they're not too dissimilar from EU regulations. As this was a 'natural event' (weather) - then no compensation is applicable. It is still the airlines responsibility to get the passengers and luggage to their final destination and ensure they are 'watered and fed' (depending on duration of delay). TG 465 circled for 20 mins as per ATC due to fog and low visibility at the Airport before diverting to due fuel reasons. The flight touched down at Sydney at 08:51 hrs and took off at 10:29am Passengers made it to their destination at 11:41am, 4 hours 19 mins later than their scheduled landing time of 07:20 am. ALL of the actions of Thai airways, their fuel load and decision to divert met with international and universal safety standards. Thai airways acted professionally up to this point. Thai Airways are suing the Passenger for publicly accusing the captain of lying about the reasons for the diversion. In doing so, Thai airways have scored an own goal.

Perhaps playing with fire, but I really do like this approach !!!...

Exactly as tomazbodner highlights... We have Citi Royal Orchid Plus... and use the Air-miles for flights. We have found it difficult to get Award Seats on flights at busier periods (Christmas / Summer and (Int'l) School Holidays). We were stuck with a lot of miles for couple of years because we couldn't obtain Award seats on flights we wanted on dates we wanted.... Award seats can be booked at Max of 330 days in advance - and we did exactly that a year ago to book Award seats for travel this month. IMO - Once the miles are in your account, the best way to book a flight is to have the 'dates in mind' and phone up TG, as they can look up whether there are award seats more quickly that using the internet booking on a trial and error basis. Friends have had more success recently booking Awards seats so TG 'may' have opened up more seats per flight (perhaps after receiving too many complaints).

One point... Comfort... you're going to be in the saddle a long time. So... is something like the CRF and Suzi DR-650 going to be too uncomfortable for long rides ? (though you could modify the seat of course). Whereas the Himalayan maybe more comfortable for longer rides. With regards to 'low end torque'... where are you thinking you may need that ? Carrying weight and getting up a river bank or something similar ?

You got no idea Here's the same thing explained from the perspective of Qatar Airways. https://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/why-is-qatar-flying-near-empty-jets-around-australia/#:~:text=Numbers onboard the second leg,to get people to Melbourne… Thai Airways do exactly the same thing...

The Point of these flights (which usually run empty on the Perth Leg) is to keep the primary route open. They're called Ghost flights... Melbourne is the primary destination but as there are bilateral agreements and limits on how many flights an operator can make into a major airport such as Melbourne, the final destination has to be a 'non-primary' airport. Perth is not considered a 'major airport' under these agreements, as such, extra flights can be added to Melbourne with Perth as the registered destination without falling outside of any bilateral agreements... (Qatar Airways does exactly the same). Obviously the Melbourne route is profitable enough to justify the extra 'ghost leg' to Perth. And from March, seasonal routing perhaps makes Perth an economically viable direct route.

You mentioned CAT... he'll think you are discussing felines...

yes ... so .... ? there are no flights to Perth Thai Airways do fly to Perth, via Melbourne.... but as you pointed out... so ?? (whats his point ?). I think you are referring to direct flights... But again, whats the point of your comment ?

Well, there's one particular poster on this thread who would... But, its quite obvious in a number of threads in which he posts that he's very far from being what would be considered 'in his right mind' !!!...

It would appear that this is the first time this has happened and the area is not that busy. Op has already pointed out that he'll put 'tyres' down as a 'pls do not park here' measure, which is what others in the neighbourhood have done. Op hasn't answered if there is space outside the car owners house to park, or if the car can be pushed forwards 3-4m whether or not that would solve the issue.

Oh, they'll be educated,... those who are in the position to make the decision to sue for defamation will be highly educated... But they have grown up in a insular business culture that nurtures an element of self-righteousness within an environment of kraeng-jai that contributes to a fragility and absense of maturity that is simply unable to handle criticism... they lack the emotional tools to simply ignore criticism.

Immigration at the Airport have no interest in a TM30 when departing... Its only Immigration Offices who are bothered with this when making extensions of stay etc

Ask your Air B n B host if they can file a TM30 for you... If your Air B n B host is Thai, this should be possible for them to do and they may be familiar with having done so in the past. They will need to file for a username and password first - all this can be done online. https://tm30.immigration.go.th/tm30api/loginExternal.jsp?value=EXT&id=00898ec1703e3e3331be631c3bc1306c IF your Air b n b doesn't want to assist with TM30... things get a little more awkward. Your best bet maybe to go back to the hotels and see if they filed a TM30... IF they did, ask them if they have a receipt of that. OR.. check into a hotel for a night, have them file a TM30 and get the receipt from that.

You haven't had a proper conversation yourself with them yet.... By your own information, you've gone up to someone with dyed hair who was stood next to the car and made hand gestures, you were ignored and probably completely misunderstood (based on info you have provided, I'm assuming this was the house owners brother and owner of the car). Since page 7 of this thread, you have also introduced the information that your Wife went round to the house to speak with someone, was it the house owner who is a Policeman? or the brother and owner of the car ? and she was ignored (you haven't mentioned what was said in this conversation). You can't speak Thai, so its very difficult for you to *communicate yourself directly about this. What I would do is something you can't - I'd go myself and speak to the house owner directly. I'd take a bottle of cheapish Whisky (i.e. Blend) and explain that I can't drive my car into my car port because of where that car is parked... can he come with you and can you both push it forwards 5m so you can get into your car-port. This was suggested by a number of posters very early on in the thread. You can't do that, because you can't speak Thai... So.. the next best step is to get a Thai male friend of yours to go around there with you, again with a bottle, and explain.... If all that fails and your 'bottle' gift is rejected and he says 'clear off' you are left with few choices. a) ignore the issue b) wait for the car to move and park your car there for a few weeks c) try and push the car 5m yourself (just enough so you can get access to your car port). d) Make a formal complaint to the Tessaban and ask them to visit the house and ask them to move the car (this may require a 'donation). Irrelevant... this is not the UK.

Thats two concurrently running examples of the complete backwardness of Thailands defamation laws which are really a blight on the development of this nation we all care about.

Can you edit your comments on Air-B-n-B ??? IF so, can you negotiate with him to take down your comments if he drops the case ? (that could be the simplest solution, but also involves swallowing your pride). Also, have you contacted Air-b-n-b and told them you are being sued thought a review left on their platform ? and are they going to assist ? (unlikely unless publicity gets very bad for air-b-n-b as it did with the trip-advisor Koh Chiang case).

Indeed.... I'm flying them next week (Award seats)... I hope nothing significant enough goes wrong such that I take to social media to complain and end up getting sued... What a perfect way for a business to highlight to its customers exactly how powerless and unvalued they are !!!...