richard_smith237

I just saw the FB link... here >>> https://fb.watch/iAHcPVgxIc/ Public nuisance indeed..... not so much revving, but blasting their horns and making an utter nuisance of themselves...

I was scammed on lazada - ordered an item received something completely different... it took a few weeks for Lazada to force the refund. Unlike you, I don’t think it was funny. I do think you are an utter tool if you think scamming anyone is funny though... particularly if you are laughing at the victims.

In todays politically correct and woke world we are not allowed use our experiences to influence our judgements.... we’d be accused of bias and in such examples here, racism. When I was in France I was warned not to go into certain area’s of town.... because of the ‘Arabs’... I was young and didn’t give it much thought. In the UK, in certain towns I also avoided certain area’s for my own safety, to avoid the Pakistani’s..... I never gave that much thought either. In hindsight both comments could be construed has containing racial bias... and that wouldn’t be wrong. Are these area’s of town simply just youths who are bored and will commit violence for fun and race has nothing to do with it? or is the racial bias deserved ??? To be honest, I don’t care..... IF I’m in a town or city and there is an area to be avoided for whatever reason.... I’ll avoid it. One thing I do notice though - I’ve worked in many countries whose nationals have a poor reputation in my home country and towns across Europe, yet I’ve had wonderful experiences, have been given the warmest welcome and the stereotypes which had developed locally in my home country have been shattered... - I wonder how and why it happens that when people from ’some’ countries move to a Western nation a minority showcase the very worst their nation and culture has to offer... Is this the same of Westerners in other countries such as Thailand ????

So many scammers out there... Just look at how many Rolexes there are on Facebook Market Place, yet on Chrono24 and the official watch sites there are just 3 or 4 in Thailand..... I’d like to see such obvious scammed dealt with extremely firmly... In this case, these scammers need to be dealt with with such severity they never consider such behaviour again and the message sent out so impactful other potential scammers choose not to. Sadly, not just Thailand but world wide the penalties for scammers are minor and thats only IF their crimes are considered significant enough to warrant investigation....

So that's your response? My country is absolutely none of your business, I am quite sure of that or that it is to the point. I am also quite sure my country is not currently invading another on a daily basis and causing war crimes. Over the course of 22 years, as Russian President Vladimir Putin consolidated an absolutist regime and launched military interventions in former Soviet territories, ordinary citizens overwhelmingly supported his leadership. That makes all Russians responsible for the current war in Ukraine. Wrong on every level. IF you are holding all Russians accountable for the actions of their government then its only fair for everyone else to hold you accountable for the actions of your government.... Of course, that would be an extremely myopic and wholly unintelligent viewpoint overloaded with bigoted judgement, excessive negative bias and wholly absent in common sense. So... what country are you from ???.... You are scared to answer because we can use your idiotic logic against you.

Erm.... You definitely chose the wrong user name... Perhaps change your name to ’show-it-all-Jones’...... --------- Seriously though - Was the image you saw from a mobile device carried by a maid etc, or something fixed in the room?.... If its the maid carrying a camera or phone to show the manager / receptionist that there is no major damage etc, then that would obviously be ok. Conversely anything fixed is a massive invasion of privacy and most certainly against some laws. Can you name the place? - maybe others are familiar with it. Why did you not ask them there and then ?.... go back and check the room for the camera etc.

A+ is one of the most common so should be widely available in hospital. I am curious though, why no vaccination ?..... And... is it just Covid vaccination, because there will be 10’s of other vaccinations that nearly every person has also had. And.. illegal drugs ?.... you mean recently, or ever ? Is marijuana considered acceptable ??? Do you mean ever ?, because I did some magic-mushrooms 20 years ago.... I would think if someone needs blood for lifesaving reason, anything the hospital already has is good enough, right ?

Besides not wearing helmets, causing a nuisance and possibly not being licence.... What else do you think this ‘gang’ were doing wrong ??? Do you think all groups of tourists are gangs doing their ‘gang culture’ thing ?

Yep... I guess so... but isn’t that the same as all the motorcyclist pulling away from a set of traffic lights ? I guess these guys were acting like tools and drew attention.... were rightly fined... would Thai guys be fined the same amounts ? Hopefully multiple fines - no helmet as well as causing a nuisance. Did they have licences ? the police would have confiscated their bikes if they had no licences, right ??? hmm... or would the police have taken their money (fine) and let them continue riding ? None of this is a deportable offence though... unless one really is the consummate GOM...

In experienced tourists, unlicensed, untrained, unfamiliar with the traffic here, riding in flip-flops.... Drunks, red-light jumpers, speeders, no helmets, those who take chances etc etc..... All add to the aggregate statistics for accidents and road deaths... Those who ride with the above traits contribute proportionately more to the accident & fatality stats than those who ride very carefully.... Possibly, that perhaps alludes to mechanical knowledge, how motorcycles work etc.. it could also be argued that young men would drink and ride more, take more risks etc... My point though all of this is that a 40 year old guy whose been living here for 15years, doesn’t drink and ride, doesn’t ride at night, wears a helmet, doest speed, rides defensively, shows great awareness etc is at far less risk of an accident than the aggregate 76% motorcyclist road fatalities suggest. That does not mean there is no risk... but when 'risk behaviour’ and cause is considered those who are more careful may not face and greater risk than riding a motorcyclist in their home country. Kwilco doesn’t like this because he wants to blame things such as road layout etc... which of course are also contributory factors, but he wants to ignore other significant factors because he thinks discussing ’local factors’ such as lack of rider / driver education, lack of safety awareness, more drunk riding etc is somehow racist.

I agree that there is far more to road accidents than the simplified observations commonly made. But, I disagree that the simplified observations are wrong, they simply do not cover the whole picture, road design, weather, even general safety culture all play a significant role. For example.... there are far less ‘careful riders’ involved in accidents (and road deaths) than ‘careless’ riders.... If you are going to outright disregard that then you face significant challenges in overcoming a lack of basic common sense and it is you who fails to understand road safety. The stats I presented are flawed, there are so many variables that its impossible to capture specific risk in such examples. However, the stats are presented to highlight how the 76% motorcyclist road fatalities in Thailand are not representative of the risk we all (who ride) face when riding a motorcycle in Thailand. We remove ourselves from the most dangerous situations through our actions (not drinking, defensive riding, experience, training, not riding at night or in the wet etc). There are many accidents which happen in situations many of us (riders) would not place ourselves in - that lowers our risk profile such that it may not be too dissimilar to the risk profile we face when riding overseas in our home countries. For some strange reason you thought that was racist as well which highlights you are not concentrating on the point, but in too much of a hurry to flame and argue.

Some posters would wish to see foreigners deported for passing wind !!.... They were reported as ‘reving’ their engines..... The bikes looks like ‘scooter’ style bikes without a clutch, I’m not sure how those can be ‘reved’ without accelerating off !!!.... the story may have been somewhat embellished. No doubt they were behaving like tools though and drew plenty of attention hence the reports.... But deportation ?.... Some of you posters are so unhinged and unbalanced you want everyone deported for everything !!!...

In cities with numerous nodes of business, areas entertainment and districts the term 'downtown' is not really appropriate... i.e. in Bangkok depending on your perspective down town could be Siam, Asoke, Saladeng, Sathorn.... too many different ‘nodes’ which is why no-one says ‘downtown’ in Bangkok because there is no definitive ‘downtown’ centre.

Let her walk !!!!…. Always potential issues with engine replacements etc…. If you can easily afford a new car get one, they’re safer etc she’ll get used to it.

Your response only flames my efforts to rationalise the statistic in such a way that they are more representative for a trained, experienced & careful rider. Do you think I face the same risk on a motorcycle as a drunk 20 year old without a helmet? The stats were placed into that very context, I just don’t think you like the results so took to flaming. You have not offered any input of your own… how about using some data for that, or are the facts also racist ?

basic misunderstanding of road safety there - it is a failure of the road environment - drivers are universally the same - unless you believe in a racist interpretation. hmm.. how about a bit of gaslighting combined with a dash of virtue signalling ???? There’s nothing racist at all in suggesting that Thailands roads may be more dangerous because there is less driver education etc... thats a simple observation completely devoid of any racial connotation. BUT... in your haste to argue you actually missed the point I was making to suggest that for ‘careful’ road users the danger is not as significantly high as the statistic initially suggest.

Please explain how the statistic have been misinterpreted.... if you can.... Either you are correct and my numbers are well off... or it is you who in fact ‘just does not get it’.. Start with... How many motorcyclists deaths involve those not wearing helmets, then consider how many of them may have been drunk, then how many of them were speeding / racing, how many of them were inexperienced, how many of them were riding carelessly (not defensive riding).... Punch some numbers and see what you come up with instead dumb one liners which provide nothing.

And yes... I am convinced of my point about the statistics: 76% of road fatalities are motorcyclist - but that 76% is not representative of the risk to me because of measures I take to cut out the major issues... (speeding, drunk riding, night time riding, helmet etc)... It would be a guess, but I would guess perhaps less than 20% of road fatalities were riders, wearing a helmet riding carefully, day time, sober, not speeding etc etc... and that is more representative of the risks ‘trained, experienced and careful' foreign riders face.... Stats on that 20%... There are 21,730,000 motorcycles in Thailand. IF 20% road fatalities are responsible motorcyclist. 5000 motorcyclist deaths per year. = 23 motorcyclist deaths per 100,000 bikes. There are 1,250,000 motorcycles in the UK 285 motorcyclist deaths per year. = 22.8 motorcyclist deaths per 100,000 bikes. When removing the drunk, speeding, helmet-less, night time, untrained riders the risks are not exactly dissimilar.... The numbers are just so high here because there are so many more motorcyclists, covering so many more miles and taking so many more risks while doing so...

Nothing is without risk. But the risk as I evaluate it is less than the aggregate statistics suggests for the reasons I posted. Other road users are a danger in other countries too, of course, more so in Thailand, but it's still not that bad when riding in day time, dry conditions. The drunks on the road is a problem here which is why I won’t ride at night, yes, you can argue there are drunks in the daytime, but it's a lot less. A similar thing happened to my friend, a car didn’t take the corner and drove on straight into her, a head on impact killing her instantly... This was in the UK, she was in a car. Sorry for the loss of your friend, but anecdote is just that.

Its not the same out story though is it... she had insurance for starters !

Only fools who have no idea of the risks because they’ve never ridden here make such statements. 76% of Thailands roads fatalities are motorcyclists. Of those, many / most were drunk, speeding, riding dangerously, racing, riding at night, no lights. Someone who rides defensively cuts their risk significantly such that the aggregate statistics are no representative of the risk they are taking.... But, if someone is the type of person to speed while riding drunk, at night then their risk profile is significantly elevated.

Depends on what their definition of "hiso is" some people seem to confuse it with middle/upper class. Its a valid point, there is no ‘specific qualifier’ for what is ‘hi-so’..... For the term I use it in its not just wealthy, but wealthy with connections at a very high level, well educated etc... Example: I know a Western guy married to a Thai lady from a ‘hi-so’ background. Politicians at the wedding (up to Dept Primeminister level), about 1000 people attended. Ambassadors, present and retired (friends of his inlaws, and parents of her friends), ‘big business’ people... Wedding was in the papers and a couple of magazines which have also invited them to numerous events etc (HiSoParty Magazine, Thai Tattler etc). In Laws are business owners, she went to top Thai Uni’s (Rangsit then Masters at Thammarsat) was not allowed to study overseas like her brother. Father in law not best impressed that his daughter was dating a foreigner at first, after marriage they get on extremely well. Child goes to Bangkok Patana School. The guy doesn’t consider him or his wife hi-so at all, but other Thai’s all state she [the Wife] is. The Wife’s friends, many of whom would be considered hi-so by any description are marred to extremely wealthy and successful Thai men, some of them are also married to Western men., some very wealthy and successful, others more ’normal’ and by normal I mean Lawyer, CFO, Business Management type level not language teachers etc... BUT... just by looking a & bumping into the couple’s walking around Emporium etc its difficult to tell, he just looks like any other ’smart similarly aged couple’.... The only way many of us could tell they are hi-so is to be told so... but Thai’s can recognise ’status’ within their own culture more easily than we can.

Don’t be daft... there are plenty of western guys who have dated and married women other Thai’s would describe as hi-so....

Hahaha, good joke. You obviously have no experience with this type of woman. You couldn’t be further from the truth with that response !!!

It's not Thai bashing... its ‘Thai Police Bashing’.... theres a difference and from personal experiences to those we read in the news the ‘bashing’ is quite warranted...