richard_smith237

On 6/5/2024 at 6:35 PM, atpeace said:

That was true in America and Thailand but the last 15 years I get the feeling their main preoccupation is to mess with you.  If a contractor tells you they will be there at  noon it can translated to I might show-up tomorrow but probably not.  The good ones are so busy they just tell you the truth which is you are probably better off digging the ditch or fixing the plumbing yourself because I'm too busy at the moment and my peers will mess with your head.

 

I now just watch Youtube vids and do OK. If all else fails, I've become very proficient with fixing things with a combination of duck tape, contact glue, and zip ties.

 

 

So true…. doing a project myself after the contractor started messing around with timing.

(& I’m now I’m behind schedule & effing knackered !)

22 minutes ago, Robert Paulson said:

I don’t even believe you did this. I could be wrong. Seems what any sane airline would do is realize a seat is going to be unoccupied during pre takeoff routines and if it’s a booked flight, they’d fill the seat with a paying customer… because… that’s what airlines are in the business of doing 

Not only do you appear poorly travelled, you appear poorly educated. 

Some airlines do permit the booking of a second seat.... 

There are now 7 Airlines who offer 'sleeper rows' also called 'sky couches' where you can book 3 seats in economy, bedding is provided - its cheaper than business (which is usually about 4x Eco)...  and also cheaper than premium economy on some flights.

https://www.businessinsider.com/airlines-have-lie-flat-beds-in-economy-class-2023-4

32 minutes ago, Robert Paulson said:

As far as I’m concerned flights are each man for themselves. The airline has designed the seats a certain way, anyone has a complaint they need to take it up with the airline. Don’t be telling me anything on a 15 hour flight because I am not listening 

If in economy class...

You'll be told to put your seat upright, window-blind open, tray table secured and seatbelt fastened... and you'd better listen or you'll have problems with the flight attendants. 

... The same goes at meal time... You'll be told to put your seat upright until meal service is over.

If you are not listening...  You'll have problems with the flight attendants and face some consequences depending on who is behind you and how they want to handle the issue.

10 hours ago, CecilM said:

Flying is miserable (maybe different in Business or First). I just accept 14h of misery and get on with it. 

I think thats the only way to a handle it...    Accept its going to be a crappy spell, and be as little trouble to anyone else around you.... 

As far as seats going back - some people just have too much to worry about, its pathetic. 

If the seat goes back its someones right to put their seat back, and if the person behind wants to put their seat back as a result, thats also fine.

If at meal times, put the seat upright, if someone doesn't, ask the flight attendant to intervene - its not a tricky thing,

34 minutes ago, rickudon said:

I have once been wheelchaired to the departure gate in Bangkok and so has my son. If you able to hop or totter.to your seat no problem. But you also see people wheelchaired on to the plane itself, although I assume by prior arrangement. As lomg as death or medical attention is not required, no problem.

The old lady mentioned in the earlier thread may have only tequired assistance. Actually, getting to the UK would be the  least of her problems unless their was family to take her in at the airport.

Same, this year...   Injured a few days before travel.. E-mailed Thai Airways... got nothing, called Thai Airways, put in holding for way too long.  Wife ended up pulling strings and contacting a friend in TG.

We got the Wheel chair service as soon as I'd arrived at the check-in area - through to the gate, then used crutches. 

The same getting off the flight in Bangkok.

I think one of the primary issues is that we can exit the plane in an emergency under our own power - clearly using crutches or hopping showed this.

If I'm not wrong, depending on the size of plane and number of crew only certain limits of impaired passengers are permitted - i.e. only 10 deaf people  / 10 blind people etc and they need to be travelling with able bodied people etc (or some such similar requirement - I think its down to FIA regulations).

On 6/4/2024 at 4:28 PM, Confuscious said:

On 6/4/2024 at 2:33 AM, CHdiver said:

Belgium is a small country. It would not have been a problem to just hop over the border to say the Nederlande and fly from there. Or have you been banned from all EU Airports? Then jump into the train to Switzerland or Brexitstan.

 

Did you made this post from your barstool n Pattaya at Soi 6?

 

Making a hop over the border would have been a BIG PROBLEM FOR ME.
I was recovering in the hospital from a recent OPEN-HART surgery and was lucky to get a taxi to the Brussels airport.
Go on border-hopping was totally out of the question at that time.
And jumping on a train to "Brexistan" was also totally out of the question at that time.
How was I supposed to go buy a railway ticket or all these Mumbo-Jumbo your are brabbling from your barstool from my hospital bed?

By your own admission you are so unfit to travel you would not take on the 2 hour 2 minute road journey from Belgium to Amsterdam after recovering from Open Heart Surgery - but want to take a 12 hour flight to Bangkok?

Are you sure they didn't thrown in a lobotomy too ?

On 6/4/2024 at 4:28 PM, Confuscious said:

 

On 6/4/2024 at 2:33 AM, CHdiver said:

What you tell us is utter gobledigock. There are hundreds of patients every day that will not be able to fly for some days after an operation. They all will not be reported to any Airlines or Airports. 

Exactly, what an utter gobledigock you are brabbling from your barstool in a bar in Pattaya at Soi 6.
 

On 6/4/2024 at 2:33 AM, CHdiver said:

However it's the Doctor's responsibility to tell you that you should not fly for a given time. But that is just to protect him legally. Of course if you turn up at the check in with a wheel chair covered in bandages and a drip, they will not let you fly without the ok of a Doctor.

Did you find that out with the help of the bargirl in Pattaya?
 

On 6/4/2024 at 2:33 AM, CHdiver said:

And finally, to take responsiblility for diverting a flight, you would have to have very deep pockets. How did you prove that? Putting one million USD on the table? So your story is utter nonsense imho. 

yes, you are brabbling utter nonsense.
But you knew that already, or not?

I'm still at a loss as to how the Airline knew you were unfit to fly... but, it seems, going back to your earlier 'short tempered comments'...  (clipped and highlighted below)...    You were clearly in no condition to travel anywhere, let alone in no condition to fly anywhere.

So.... How did the Airlie know you were unfit to fly ?... If a few hours in a taxi or on a train is too much for you to handle,  My guess is that the airline staff took one look at you and realised you were unfit to fly.

On 6/4/2024 at 4:28 PM, Confuscious said:

Making a hop over the border would have been a BIG PROBLEM FOR ME.
I was recovering in the hospital from a recent OPEN-HART surgery.
Go on border-hopping was totally out of the question at that time.
And jumping on a train to "Brexistan" was also totally out of the question at that time.
How was I supposed to go buy a railway ticket.

3 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Why do you post something like that? The foreigners were already helping. I am pretty sure that there was both Thai and foreigners walking by without doing anything before that. I am also sure that it would have been Thai´s doing the helping if the good ones of them came before the foreigners.

Totally agree....    Although I do register the cynicism of an earlier posters who suggested the foreigners might be fined for 'touching' sea creatures, as it often seems there often exists an exaggerated response of outrage when a foreigner does 'something' as innocuous as picking up a piece of dead coral... 

I remember being warned by hotel staff after my Son took a small jar of sand and shells from the beach in Koh Samet for his school project - apparently, the previous week tourists doing the same think were fined a huge amount (50,000 baht)...  meanwhile we have all the local businesses dumping their litter in the island etc... 

It is of course great that people (Foreign or Thai) will help... but what is really done about these issues? - enforcement of the fishing industry etc ?...  Is anything done at all ?..  I think the easier more profitable targets are the innocents who 'touch the wrong' thing...  while such issues as polluting the seas and simply binning offcuts of net and rope and not enforced at all which leads to the issue we witness here.

1 minute ago, bob smith said:

fish and chips x 2 was what i asked for over the phone.

 

bob.

Impressive if she can do a good job of cooking that.

Alternatively, why not order from Grab ?.....   OK, so you asked your wife, why could she not have ordered from Grab ?

Exactly how much have you be pi44ing off your wife lately, Bob ???...    a Wife who has no interest in supporting her husband whenever possible is either a) just along for the ride and doesn't care, or, b) furious with him about something.

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Can't understand a guy that can't cook something for himself, bacon, eggs and fried bread takes about 10 minutes. Failing that ham and cheese toasties from 7-11.

How hard is it to order something decent from Grab....   Sit down, have a beer and food will have arrived.

To be fair, given Bob's anti Thai sentiment in many threads if he's verbalised any such impressions to his Wife she may very well have had enough and is simply there for the financial security and no other reason - why run around after him at all (possibly not though, but given Bob's posting history that would be my guess).

Not only that - but did Bob actually ask her to cook something, or just expect that his wife would 'know' that he want's food at 10pm at night?

1 minute ago, fredwiggy said:

Almost every time I go to Lotus or another grocery store. people in vehicles will not allow me, the pedestrian, right of way. This is a law back home, and you will be ticketed, yet that will never happen here, because of the lack of concern for others I see daily. I get cut off on the road all the time, and I've had many people pass me on the right, when I was on the right lane, going over the speed limit by a bit. They would rather head into oncoming traffic, risking not only their life but others coming in the other direction, than go around me in the left lane. Thinking they own the road, and I must move out of their way. I come from New Jersey, home of the defensive drivers, and you don't see this behavior anywhere near as much as I do here. I've had people in cars come within inches of me a few times while I was driving a scooter in the scooter lane, going way over the speed limit. It's like you aren't there. This is yet another reason I will leave here with my daughter way before she's allowed to be on the road driving.

True....    Having driven in numerous countries, Thailand is not the worst.... 

The Middle East is absolutely awful there - the aggression on the roads in the UAE and Qatar is astonishing, not outward agression, but a degree of 'pushing and assertiveness' that makes driving in Thailand relaxing. 

In other area's, we can't drive - its just too risky and laws are no fit for foreigners driving, so we have 'security escorts' etc....

Driving in Japan on the other hand is a pleasure...  Both Wife and I have driven there, no issues, everyone follows the rules, the roads are easy to navigate with a logical layout, the signage is clear, google Maps works well etc... everyone on the road is polite. 

The UK seems to be getting worse, with half the people driving aggressively or assertively, with the other half getting upset if they witness a perceived sleight by you been in the imperfect lane at a large traffic island etc... 

I find driving in Thailand very easy too... but thats simply because I learned not to worry about motorcyclists getting 1mm from my mirrors, rear, or cutting in front of me... it's for them to work out of there is space or not, yet on daily basis I have to brake hard to avoid a motorcyclist who 'got it wrong'...    

The real tell for me is: 

- Driving in Japan I don't see anything silly and end up thinking - blooming fool !!!...

- Driving in the UK, on the two hour trip from the Airport, I may see a couple of  people on the motorway driving stupidly, tailgating a lorry or sticking in the middle lane. 

- Driving in Thailand, within minutes of being on the road from the airport, I've seen something that makes me think 'woah - idiot.... what a pi!!ock, he nearly took them out'....    and this is before we even reach the motorway where I see numerous more examples... people on phones, babies being held in the front seat, delivery pickups swerving through traffic... 

What does surprise me is how few accidents there are here compared to the manner in which people drive - on that I have to compliment the Thai driving skills, as they drive too closely to each other, cut each other up, force their way in... yet there are few accidents compared to what one would imagine there would be when looking at the manner of driving here....   Another compliment is the temperament of the drivers, while there much reason for it, there is actually very little road rage here. 

4 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

On 6/6/2024 at 8:50 AM, Gottfrid said:

Yeah, I reacted to that too. Very reliable witnesses, with absolutely no agenda to save their own skin.

Should be easy to see in what lane the bike of the British driver was and the lane of the pickup truck.

True...  But the deceased could have been 'pushed / nudged' into the oncoming lane by the other motorcyclists.... plenty of reasons that could explain the crash was not the fault of the deceased, equally so, plenty of reasons to suggest he could be solely at fault. 

The picture below shows the bike of the deceased on the wrong side of the road.

https://www.thephuketnews.com/british-tourist-killed-in-motorbike-accident-92537.php

Witness statements suggesting the deceased was riding (over taking) and heading directly towards the oncoming pickup and rode straight into it - which IMO, seems very odd, but every odd things do happen on the roads here. 

I'm wondering if it wasn't more that, the decreased was over-taking, passing a line of vehicles down the centre-line of the road, and another motorcyclist pulled out either hitting the passing rider and / or forcing him to swerve into oncoming traffic... for who actually rides directly into oncoming traffic ???? (I know, we've seen examples of this too in Thailand)... 

5 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

I am looking at changing my nationality to Thai.

Speaking with you reminds me of why.

Best of luck with that...  if living here long term its a smart option to take IMO... 

However, changing your nationality does not remove bigotry...   

5 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Why do you say that? Maybe he would have been driving without belt and same thing happened. Can die easy if have accident without belt. Also, there are different rider regarding motorbikes. some are totally unexperienced, other are nervous at rush hour. After that we have risk takers, and speeders. At last we have the experienced drivers, that always have control and can handle their bikes. So, some will have a long life riding bikes all their life in Thailand. I am one of them, that have riding different 600-1100 cc bikes for about 25 years in this country. I also drive car when taking the family somewhere and sending kids to school.

Completely agree... 

There are lots of different types of riders, and while riding here in Thailand clearly carries an elevated risk compared to driving a car or riding a motorcycle in our home countries, we can remove ourselves from the elevated layers of the risk profile by riding within certain boundaries..  (not riding at night, not speeding, not drunk, wearing kit, riding defensively all the time etc) - thats not to suggest this guy wasn't following common sense rules... the story could be a complete fabrication, the deceased can't defend themselves...    or he could have been riding recklessly, no one knows...

... but I think most of us know by now that witness statements are one of the most unreliable forms of evidence.

RIP to the Brit....

39 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Probably not wearing a helmet.

It seems half of them don’t around here.

in Patong so fair chance alcohol involved also, maybe some weed.

He was overtaking to mix that with a bit of speed.

Heroin addict too ??...        

5 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

7 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The bias I now have is against you, as whenever you make a negative comment about a British person

I am a British person and you admit you are biased against me and have made several negative comments about me now.

 

People in glass ceilings shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

Oh dear...   you are unable to prevent your lack of critical thought from betraying your true absence of intellect... 

My bias is against fools, regardless of nationality...  and yes, I've made several negative comments about your comments, not your nationality.

3 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Don’t make excuses for this snitch Richard.

 

A snitch is a snitch wherever he came from.

I am not Brit bashing as you have imagined again.
 But I hope the grass can fight better than those Brits down in Soi 6 last week, because if that Aussie gets hold of him I think that Aussie will be wanting to do a bit of real life Brit bashing.

 

I'm not making excuses of any Brit... Your binary thinking cannot deal with that - I'm calling you out on your bias so you may recognise it yourself - instead you are burying your head further into the sand. 

You have no idea the Brit snitched, possibly he did... you have already judged.

Now you bring other Brits who've done something wrong into the discussion... and now you dream of them fighting the Aussie and hope they loose.....  

Just now, MalcolmB said:

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

are you worried that you'll be tarred with the same Brush ??.

Yes.

So you are worried that other Thai's and other foreigners will look at you and treat you with some negativity because an idiotic minority of British reach the second rate social media headlines ?.... 

But you have no concern whatsoever that other 'Western looking' foreigners don't attract similar negativity towards you?

Can people tell you are British just by looking at you ?

Additionally - its very fortunate that most people are not bigoted and don't tar all with the same brush...  Hence, I have no concern what other white-guys, Brit or otherwise get up to, because I don't believe it reflects poorly on  me because I believe most people aren't stupid enough to be as openly bias as some posters here are.

Just now, MalcolmB said:

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

yet hardly commented on any of the other threads involving other nationals who have found themselves in the media for the wrong reasons.

As a Brit in Thailand obviously I will be drawn to the Brit in Thailand threads.

And none of them have been good.

Not a single one.

Yes, you are drawn to the 'Brits in Thailand' threads...    thats because of your negative bias, you don't even know you are bias. 

You've only been a member for a couple of weeks - how many negative Brit stories have you found ?

There will be a story every week...    thats the nature of this forum, a lot of it report on what foreigners get up to. 

Also, when looking at 'news'....  negative stories attract more attention, thus more ad revenue...  this is why most of the stories are about someone behaving badly...  and that includes people of all nationalities. 

Just now, MalcolmB said:

If they had of been good I would have been proud. But I haven’t read anything to be proud of. Have you?

Why would you be proud of someone you don't know ?

There have been plenty of stories in the past of foreigners doing good deeds in Thailand, plenty of Brits etc... but all these are by far outweighed by stories of foreigners reaching the headlines for doing the wrong thing - you seem to be concentrating on one facet of that bigger picture and only focusing on negative stories of Brits.