richard_smith237

Are sandals, T-shirts and shorts typical of someone who drives a motorbike than can comfortably do 132 kph? I am guessing that the OP was better prepared than that for his journey. Perhaps dingdorgrb thinks the BiB only ticket speeders if their riding gear is inappropriate !!! And... are ’sandals, t-shirt and shorts’ typical riding gear at all for any westerner riding a motorcycle capable of highways speeds ??...

YAWN.... ???????????? Aw gawwdddd..... everything about this comment from dripping with sanctimony to the outrageously dumb assumption that a speeding motorcyclist makes ‘expats look horrible’.... Some people really can’t help themselves from getting in their own way. On the other hand, the Op seems perfectly level headed, ready to accept fault and complimentary of the manner in which the issue was dealt with.

I really do wonder about some AN members... that information is almost impossible to miss in the article... and then commented on numerous times by many other posters.....

Its a valid point... I wonder if proportionately this does occur to more Brits than other nationalities, or, if its simply picked-up because the AN news team are predominantly English speaking and reporting on news already reported on in English (i.e. by British Media).

Yeah that's what I'm try to get across and those silly class titles don't mean much, sitting in a car is the way and can lay down fully stretched in a Camry. ???? There's also ‘more car around you’ in the Mazda 3 than the Swift, so interior space is not the only factor I’d be considering... Safety is also... I’d rather be in a Mazda 3 in a smash than a Swift... upping that I’d rather be in a Camry or Accord than the Mazda 3.... A 2015 CRV also fits the ‘something larger’ that the Op may be interested in... https://www.one2car.com/en/used-cars-for-sale/honda?min_price=500000&max_price=600000&page_size=26 https://www.one2car.com/en/used-cars-for-sale/toyota/body-Sedan?min_price=500000&max_price=600000&page_size=26

Its a 3.5 to 4 hour drive.... Is there any point in stopping off at all ??... A good link... most of the decent stuff to do on this route is actually in Krabi or the Islands near it. IMO it would make sense for the Op to get to Krabi and use his time there. Such as?...

Yeah... whenever going slightly ’niche’ its often very difficult to find anything in Thailand... Cycling stuff is relative difficult to find anyway (even bicycles is limited for choice etc). A bike trailer is something I’ve never seen here and definitely ‘colouring outside the lines’... Ops best option is to import (lazada or Shopee), that depends on his price limits of course.... This bicycle cargo trailer (photo below) seems like it could be ideal solution for the Op to bring along his dog for his rides... its 5900 baht (link). (not expensive / expensive depends on the value the Op places on such an item). Alternatively the Op could contact local fabricators etc to construct one... But I’d guess the unfamiliarity with such an item could end up with them making quite a pigs ear out of it...

There you go Op... we have someone who can build one for you !!!

OP... just a thought... what about an Accord ????.... ... anyone suggested that ??? ????????

I $#!T you not, the perfect device for this already exists.... The Avix autonomic Mark II... Now... how serious is the issue exactly ??? ???? Let us know if it also works on cats !!!

I guess he had an inquisitive immigration officer. My passports used to get full quickly... I’ve entered on numerous different (new) passports. I also carry two (UK) passports and have made a switch in the past (when reasons dictated) - I too have never been questioned. I’ve seen my full immigration history on a screen, every entry (each entry photo with it), the visa I entered with etc... The new passports / different passports were picked up without question and simply added to the system. I imagine this is the same for the vast majority of people who've entered on a new or different passport.

Or cut a big hole in the Russians balcony net so the Pigeons can go back home !!!!

Had numerous new cars... like most, I’ve never been concerned with the Red Plate restrictions (real or otherwise).... driven at night, out of province etc... If there are any actual laws regarding this, they are ‘unpracticed’... or ‘hardly ever enforced’... much of the ideas around the regulations surrounding red plates seem like many of the urban myths that surround such matters in Thailand... I’ve not seen anything written about driving at night or leaving the province, but, have had police friends tell me such, but they don’t know where its written either - it sounds like one of those legacy regulations thats just been passed along without any greater knowledge of the actual law... Only once have I witnessed a minor issue... 20 odd years ago, GF’s new car.. driving on the Expressway, at the toll booth a Police officer walked over, stopped the car and asked what we were up to... “going home from work, why”... ...”because you have red plates”.... and that was that, GF just drove on....

Drink the bottle and roll around in the stuff... ????????

You may not have been charged, most do because they cost the garage money. Many years back I was charged a deposit of 3000bht... Years ago I paid the balance at the dealership and drove away my new car.... A few hours later I received a call asking if I could go back and pay the deposit for the red-plates (they’d forgotten). They [staff at the dealership] were quite insistent that I return there and then and were quite dumbfounded at my response that its ok, no need, I just won’t ask for the deposit back when they give me the white plates !!!.... they kept pushing, I got irritated and told them I’d pay when I am next passing by the their dealership.... They simply didn’t know how to handle this ‘customer’ who did not do exactly what they wanted..... This was second experience of buying a car in Thailand and it still struck me as strange (and still does) how upside-down the whole experience of buying a car is here... The customer most definitely does not come first !!!!... Red-Plates... ultimately because of laziness (combination of dealership and government / DLT) and no one takes issue because people like their red plates on a new car !!!...

How do you know his neighbours are Russian ???... Did you see their passports ??... ????????

Thule have a presence in Thailand... it may be worth contacting them... https://www.thule.com/en-th/bike-trailers/bike-trailers-for-commuting Something like this... (on facebook marketplace) Something like this... (on Shopee)

Why would you want to put your dog on something like this ???? ????

Sanctimoniously ribbing the Op is common sense ? Op has stated he is getting his license in a few weeks. Op may already be legally driving here on his home licence (speculative).

Its slightly larger... But all cars are a different size even those in the same category. Best option is to take a look and see if the size is right. Accord is a decent choice, but I don’t think thats in the Ops price bracket unless he goes older. Op would to well to take a look at one2car.com and see whats out there to give himself ideas.

There are loads of ‘suggested solutions’ from fake pigeons, fake cats, fake falcons... hanging CD’s (which is supposed to startle them)... none of which works... What does work: A net to prevent them from access... Spikes to stop them standing on the balcony on the first place (then the evil little b’stards would dive bomb I’m sure !)... Neither a net or spikes is an attractive solution... (edit - spikes as in the post above). Our solution, daily cleaning (we had a live in maid at the time)..... Crafty beggars... I never got near ‘em with a BB gun !!! (pigeons not the maid). I’ve since moved and now have the issue with a couple of cats ‘spraying’ my car / motorcycle and front of house... I’ve bought sprays, ultrasonic cat repellants... nothing works...

I'm going to stake a stab in the dark at this one,..... Ans: As low as the truck with a blue tank on the back ??? Its astonishing how often events such as this occur in Thailand, events which simply seem unfathomable in many of our home countries.. Garrotted motorcyclist anyone?... its been a few months since we read of news of that !!

Valid point, but this thread is already full of sanctimony... The Op has already stated that he is due to get his licence at the end of March. An additional facet that my pooh-pooh those crying foul is that if the Op has a Driving Licence from his home country, he may well be driving legally anyway... (... I know, I know... thats pandoras box opened... regarding overseas driving licences, IDP, Insurance, treaties etc ... there have been numerous other threads on that aspect).

Indeed..... I use the comparison sites a lot when shopping around its often quite comical to see some of the lower fairs that’d see us making 3 stopovers from the UK to BKK... And, as you mentioned, the lines of communication are often difficult enough, but become compromised when dealing with a third party. I (nearly)always book directly from the Airline Website..... The last time I didn’t a flight was cancelled, it took me 5 months to get my deposit back from which the travel agent wanted to subtract their costs - I had to get ABTA involved. Recently - Both Emirates and Turkish delayed flights (€600 owed) Emirates was a lot easier to deal with than Turkish who rejected the compensation claim but ultimately paid out after I used an arbitrator (https://www.aviationadr.org.uk). Reports state that air-fares are only going to increase throughout 2023 hence my reasoning to purchase for the Summer and Winter UK lists sooner rather than later... I’m just quite shocked at the increases.... In the next 12 months I’m going to be blowing an estimated 300k baht on family air-travel. I can’t find anything I consider of reasonable value, obviously I’ll have to change my idea of reasonable from 25,000 baht (Emirates return) to 45,000 baht Emirates Return !!! (just under US$4000 feels like a lot for a single trip).

Shady past ??? They don’t need to ‘look’.. the Name / DOB etc comes up automatically on the Immigration computers when your passport is scanned - IF you have a new / different passport its quickly linked unless key identifying information has changed (name / nationality / Passport) then, I suspect someone could slip through the gaps.