richard_smith237

Indeed an easy claim for the medical industry in Thailand to make.... It is alleged that the Medical Burden of foreigners in Thailand from unpaid bills is 300 Million Baht In those reports its very rarely if ever mention that 'medical tourism' is about 24 Billion Baht. i.e the medical burden is about 1.25%... So any claim that foreigners have cost them millions completely overlooks the profits foreigners have brought.... While of course, everyone should pay their bills, the complaint is still very one sided thinking if you ask me.

I understand I am happier in my safer, more comfortable, air-conditioned car. His comment was aimed at me... And in that golden droplet of dumbfluckery proven yet again how incorrect and trollish he's been in this thread....

Is this how the cops see us, if someone wants to make a report, we are just complaining? Well, that depends... the complaining local might not have been making a report, he could have been just been complaining that the police were s#it at their jobs...

Unfortunately, I suspect it is...

Not everywhere in every county. When I visit the US no one is cutting line in the places I go. Exactly... go to Japan... No one cuts in line, at all... And what with this 'get over it' attitude ???.. seems some people are just 'door mats' and let people take advantage of them on a daily basis. I'm happy if people speak out about such behavior when it does happen, it means there is less of it around which improves daily experiences for all of us.

Are you driving around in Range Rovers or something ??... I've never had a car stolen... but if I did, a Driving licence is the last of my concerns, and as you mentioned, replacing them is easy. Having them in the car guarantees I'll have then when / if necessary, its just easier that way and I much prefer to keep a very slim wallet... (Bank Card / Pink ID / Credit Card... and 1200 baht in cash (3-4 notes usually) - 99% of my payments are cashless these days)

Do you believe speaking out against someone who is queue jumping will start a fist fight every time... Sure there are cases where it can, but we can't all be shrinking violets. I thank those who have gone before and dealt with such issues such that its still quite socially inappropriate to queue jump in Thailand... Just curious - why do you think you will LOSE if you speak out ????... I suspect in the vast majority of cases the person queue jumping will shrink back after realising their bad manners - I guess it all depends how its handled... ... i.e. Smile with a no-no matey... behind me... .... --------- I recall going into a Petrol Station on a Road trip, I was somewhere near Tak... I'd got petrol... and when inside the petrol station shop to buy something... I was stood in a queue, one person in front of me and this Thai lad just walked up to the queue, I initially thought he was trying to 'get passed'... he stepped in front of me and stopped, it was then I realised he'd joined the queue in front of me (there were some people behind me)... .... I just tapped him on the shoulder, he looked at me and with my thumb I pointed over my shoulder to the back of the queue... No words spoken... He moved immediately... Either he knew exactly what he was doing or just had a total brainfart and didn't realise there was a queue behind the guy getting served !!.... regardless, no issues and in the vast majority of examples nothing more comes of it... even though I've given two examples in this thread where things potentially became heated.

Just curious, why would you carry all of them around with you in Thailand ??? isn't there a risk of additoanl hassle in the event of losing your wallet ? - Pink ID - in my Wallet (only when in Thailand / outside of Thailand it goes into the Passport Wallet) - DLT App on phone (that has copies of both) - Thai Driving License (stays in the car - I don't need it anywhere else) - Thai Motorcycle Licence (stays in the bike - I don't need it anywhere else) - UK Driving License (stays in a Passport wallet / and put in Wallet when in the UK) - Residency cards (from 2 other countries - stays in a Passport wallet until I go to that country)

I see, so there is the normal line, the fast lane and the Thai line. Yep... pretty much... 4 types of queue / lanes for Thai Immigration upon arrival. 1) Fast Track (Thais and Foreigners who meet those requirements). 2) Thai Lane 3) International lane 4) Air Crew For departure there is: 1) Fast Track 2) Everyone else 3) Air Crew I could be mistaken but I've not seen a dedicated lane for Thai's on departure. -------- Regarding the Ops question: Are the immigration offers any friendlier ?.... I assume he means any more forgiving of 'borerline cases' where there may be a reason to reject entry on too many back to back visas and / or visa exempt entries etc... ... Its possible that those working at the Fast Track lanes are in a better state of mind as they are generally dealing with a better standard of traveller (for want of a better description), thus, that 'could' work in someones favour if they are a borderline case, but much of this comes down to the mindset of an immigration officer more than anything else and there are many other factors which could influence discretion. As far as timing: There are many cases where the regular queues are no greater than the fast track queues, there are plenty of other cases when the regular queue is horrific and looks like it would take hours meanwhile the fast track queues are only 2-3 deep.

Are those song lyrics ???? .... but you're a day late and a dollar short to that thread.... 50 days late actually..

Yes, what the "source" said was not true. Therefore, as I pointed out, it lacks credibility. Accordingly, it's not a reliable source about the pink cards, as the poster had suggested. Agreed.... I wouldn't consider 'The Thaiger' as a valid 'source'... I wouldn't consider any media outlet in Thailand to be a valid source... The information on this forum is often a lot more accurate... Even Thai Embassy and MFA Websites have glaring errors and don't get updated.

Not true. That is one of the benefits. Also reported here on Thaiger: https://thethaiger.com/other-services/pink-id/guides/thai-pink-id-card-procedures-and-requirements/#:~:text=With a Thai Pink ID,around your passport with you. This opens up another can of worms type debate... Thai law (somewhere) states that "everyone has to carry around government issued ID which has a photo"... OR, has to be able to "show Government issued Photo ID within a 'reasonable' timeframe".... For those of us 'within' the province of issue the Pink ID serves that purpose.... this is where there exists a lack of clarity hence and ongoing debate, the Pink ID many of us carry states that we cannot travel outside of the area of issue unless we have alien ID, i.e. our passport, thus the Pink ID is superseded... But, many of us do not carry our passports when out and about in an area outside of the province in which we are registered with the Pink ID.... Also, there have also been numerous flip-flopping announcements from various provinces stating it is not necessary to carry our passports, and a photocopy or photo of our passport on our phone is fine to prove ID, then there are other announcements contradicting that and back and forth... I suspect the Chiefs of Police in their respective provinces make up there own regulations on this. SO... Pink ID inside the province is sufficient, IMO... And outside of province of issue, a copy of the Passport on the Phone and if thats not good enough, being able to show a passport within a reasonable time frame (i.e. 1 hour is reasonable). Again... all very vague and an absolute lack of clarity - but neither is it a huge deal, how often are we checked for our passport ? Me - I've never been asked for it outside of Bangkok. In Bangkok, I've bene asked 3x and 2 of those times I refused and the BiB just went on their way, another they were awkward, wouldn't accept my DL (I didn't have Pink ID at the time) so ended up 'phoning a friend).. IMO - everything I know about Thailand indicates that latter situation was a possible shakedown, they wanted me to get out of a taxi, probably pee in a cup give a full search etc... seemed very much like a 'shakedown' and I'm sure they'd have demanded a fine for not carrying a passport after not being able to find anything else... (luckily since then, such shakedowns became public knowledge and the BiB in the Sukhmivit area backed-off after the bad publicity)... So there it is... at least IMO - Pink ID should be fine in area of issue unless the BiB are dodgy, in which case they'll look for anything. Outside of province, we just have to take our chance and hope they are fine with a Photocopy or photo on our phone as I'm not going to carry my passport when out on the pish.

No... it was an ABP apparently..... not sure what the Thai guys excuse was other than a sense of entitlement... Perhaps he'd been in 5 mins earlier forgotten something and popped back... I've no idea, wasn't there.. but the story, as it was relayed to me was that the guy pushed in because he believed he could... my friend described him as a 'hi-so' Thai guy (rich Thai looking Thai guy). As you mentioned - it would be interesting to get the other side of such stories just to find out what goes through the head of someone like that. -------- A friends Wife parks her car wherever she wants... i.e. small road... stops the car outside a shop to nip in and blocks the traffic behind her which then has to go around into the on coming lane, if something is coming, they have to wait... ... I tell my friends missus, you can't stop here, you're blocking everyone... the response... "So what ?"... I'm left dumbfounded while at the same time have been offered a greater understanding of some of the behavior here - perhaps is the same with people pushing in... the "So what" attitude....

Your Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia in light of my sesquipedalian loquaciousness is noted...

Agreed.. I was responding to 'stupidfarangs' comment (quoted below) about how its normal for staff to stop serving you and start talking with another customer... or sometimes 3-4 staff serving one customer while others are waiting. The 'butting in' while you are in the middle of a transaction is rude in any culture - there is no excuse, it can also be insulting. A friend of mine recalled a 'near fight scenario' in Bangkok..... He was in the middle of making his order (at a Sandwich shop) and a Thai guy walks in, pushes in front of him and makes his order... ... my friend spoke up.... "excuse me, I'm here"... the guy responds.... "So what !!!"... My friend was dumbfounded... I bit of an argument ensured... Turns out the Thai guy, fluent in English, believed that because he was Thai he had the right to go in front of a foreigner... its difficult to respond to that sort of in the face eff you without responding in kind and telling them to get flooked... ----------- This reminded me of a story I'd forgotten... with my Son in McDonalds in a mall in Bangkok (he was about 4 at the time)... queuing up... my turn... while ordering a Happy Meal a Thai guy walks in and blurts out his order while I am making mine.... the staff give him their full attention and start taking his order... ... Stop, No !!... I'm ordering he can wait, and then there are two more people behind me !!!.... (I'm not sure how much of this was understood, but the point was made)... ... Staff take my order and the Thai Guy storms out of the McDonald's without ever making his order. ... My son and I sit down near the window and we eat our food, while doing so the Thai guy comes up to the Window and starts giving me the middle finger, both hands !!!... he does in a very animated fashion... all very bizarre... the open entrance to McDonalds is right next to us... ... I stand up (to go and get ketchup) and the guy s#its himself and runs off !!!..... I'm left with a element of concern wondering if someone so unhinged will return and escalate...

Ah, then I was mistaken in my above comment... I'm not sure why it took you so long to get the Pink ID if you were already in possession of a Yellow House Book... the process itself takes less than 10 mins and can be done immediately after obtaining the Yellow House Book.

But what hassle are you talking about, I had recently lost my pink card, I went to get it again and everyone was very kind without causing me any problems, I paid 60 B. You've deliberately missed the point.... oldcpu has pointed out 'it was a hassle' - meaning obtaining the Yellow House Book and Pink ID was a hassle... It is the 'obtaining the Yellow House Book' part which is a hassle for all (most) of us... ...A lot of the debate on this thread surrounds whether that hassle (obtaining the Yellow House Book) is worth it or not. The actual process of getting the Pink ID (after the Yellow House Book has been issued) is a very quick and simple process, which you went through.

Thats a fair point.... as with anything new, there is a learning curve but I believe we are past that for the majority of society which leaves a few 'late adapters' who are new to Digital payment and may take time as they 'learn' how to use the system - I imagine the first few times I used digital payment I was slower.... now I find it much quicker than paying with cash. As mentioned - when you are familiar with the system, its quicker... But of course, there are times you could get stuck behind someone who is slower, just as we can get stuck behind someone who is slower to pay with cash or a card. There will be the usual 'whatifery... i.e. what if the phone network is down, what if you're run out of credit, what if you have no battery etc... but thats all just, well.. its just 'whatifery' and can be easily countered... These are the exaggerations used by people who don't like such payment systems... 'found their phone'.... 'Turned it on'... (people generally know where their phones are at all times and they are always turned on).. That said, those very same people who take their time getting their phone out their handbag or wallet etc are the very same people to take their time getting their wallet or purse out... the very same people who get to their front door before they start searching for their keys !!!.

Very true.... Not too long ago, in the 7-11 I wanted a bottle of Gin... I clearly wasn't doing a very good job of making myself understood, or the person I was dealing was not very sharp... (I was speaking Thai)... ... Confusion ensued, the second member of staff, in the middle of serving another customer translated my Thai in Thai for the girl... who then tried to reach the Gin but couldn't, neither could the second girl, it then took a third girl to get the small stool thingy, to climb up and get the blue bottle of Gin... ... 3 serving staff... 3 queues... two other queues left to wait while my boozy requirements we're met.... Everyone cool about it and smiles all around, but if you're in a hurry then someone breaking off in the middle of serving you could become irritating I suppose....

Guilty as charged... about 25 years ago in 7-11.... Over a couple of years a friend and I had amassed loads of 25 and 50 Setang coins, it seemed that it was only 7-11 who used these small coins (or of the places we shopped it was only 7-11)... Friend and I went to 7-11... selected some items.. he went first and handed a cup of these 25 and 50 Setang coins to the cashier. The staff counted them out, adding them up and took the right amount. Next was my turn, the 7-11 staff totted up my items, I then handed her a cup of these 25 and 50 Setang coins... without delay she said, thank-you, thats the right amount (or something to that tune) and just took the cup of change. Giggles & smiles all around... We were pratting about, they knew it, saw through it and 'won'... a bit of a laugh all around (we were in their daily so had become familiar with the staff).

Yup... seen that happen... This has been debated quite a lot on this forum... Its not any slower at all... Give it a try, once you are familiar with such payment methods you'll see how convenient it is. Some will use the excuse, that it takes longer, but that just an exaggeration from those who don't like digital payments, perhaps because they don't like change or are uncomfortable with change. ... the reality is for most people, the phone is in hand and the App us running ready for the cashier to scan - its not slower than cash or credit card payment.... Where it may be slower for people who are just disorganised and not ready to make the payment at the right time... but, this kind of person is also the kind who doesn't have their wallet ready at the right time either and spends time digging for cash. So no... Its not a 'mad' system.. its incredibly convenient...

Thats just like getting stuck behind one person at an ATM thinking it'll be quick only wait as they carry out multiple transactions in a row.....

So, admittedly you don't know, you couldn't possibly know for sure, but have a 'layman's guess' which you've incorrectly used as some form of proof to justify your comments - rather flawed really. Attempt to trigger a response based on a national insult duly ignored - flawed debating methods !!... particularly when you consider over 40% of London's population is not British !!!.... Agreed, its an over reaction.... they'd do better to just speak up at the time. I don't agree with that behavior... But find your over-egged response quite ridiculous... So, no, I'm not in 'their ranks'... I am in the 'ranks' (whatever you mean by that) of calling out a hyperbolic and ridiculous point you made. I'm not trolling you or targeting 'you' specifically... I'm targeting the comments you make (in this thread, not other threads) because of how ridiculous they are. I agree with you that the response to walk away is a childish over reaction.... but also point out that your accusation of vandalism and that the actions of leaving food at the checkout could lead to food poisoning as being completely over the top and utterly preposterous to such a degree I question the sanity of someone who'd make such a claim... Instead of stepping back and realising the ridiculousness of your comment you have instead doubled-down and blamed 'frozen food' for making you unwell when you couldn't possible know what it really was.. thus making your comments even more ridiculous... So no.. not trolling - but I do call out completely ridiculous comments when I see them - I could of course take the high ground and just ignore such stupidity, however, this is a forum for discussion, so such responses can be highlighted, discussed, debated, agreed with, disagreed with etc...

Valid point - if ever there was an ideal situation to use resources to medivac a child in dire need.

The 'Blue Baby' syndrome became known after 'heathy babies' once at home developed issues after being fed formula made with water with high nitrate levels.... .... If I remember correctly, there was also an issue with the British Tap water in the 1970's and 1980's in some area's which caused elevated levels of this tragic issue.