richard_smith237

Never and issue with Agoda or Booking.com... I’ve found they offer a decent level of consumer protection.

Just like everywhere and everything else in Thailand... ‘there are no rules until there are rules’... I’m sure many who want to do so carry their own booze onto the train... thats pretty much a given IMO. They’re possibly not even that discrete about it... but because there is a law, it perhaps forces those who may misbehave to be respectful of others. Thats about it. If you want to take your beer, wine or whisky on the train then simply do so. Be *discrete, be respectful of others. Enjoy your journey. *that may mean masking your cans (idea above), or simply putting wine in a flask or other bottle, or Whisky in a flask etc... is not hard and if caught its not exactly crime of the century. ------ At some point in the near future I’m going to end up doing a ‘Father & Son trip’ on the train from BKK to Chiang Mai (Wives will fly up and meet us there - we’ll all fly back after the weekend)... Myself, a mate and our sons will take an adjoining 1st Class Cabin... and enjoy the ride - Kids will take snacks etc, we take cards and play some games... I’m sure we’ll take some booze with us... It never crossed my mind not to, regardless of the daft regulations.

I’m not sure they’d have made a difference...

Should have been looking ahead and seen the motorcycle-side-car and slowed down.... So... - Did the truck driver see the motorcycle-sidecar too late and couldn’t slow down so had to avoid. - Did the truck driver simply over take the motorcycle-sidecar, not wanting to slow down and expected the pick up to ‘move out of the way’ These ‘food-samlors’.... are they road legal ? Possible root cause: 1) Construction, narrower road, no space (frontage for slower motorcycle-sidecar to ride on). 2) motorcycle-sidecar - road legality? I don’t think they are road legal, should never be on a highway. 3) Lorry driver - Lorry driving too fast.

Oh... that wasn’t a good idea !!!

What an utter load of projected tosh.... From one single photo you’ve ranted on a mix-tapes !!! hilariously ridiculous optics there..... Have you ever even been on a Thai Train ???...... Dining car ? For the ‘experience’ i’ve travelled: KL - Hat Yai (2nd Class AC sleeper) Hat Yai - Bangkok (2nd Class AC sleeper) Bangkok - Chiang Mai (1st Class) That was enough, then a friend visited and wanted to do the train so I did Hat Yai - Bangkok (2nd Class AC sleeper), again. Never was there any of this misbehaviour you’ve made up.

Keep your wits about you ???... you think every time someone enjoys a beer they fall into a drunken stupor ?? there is no healthy balance, its simply straight to the extremes ?? That depends which laws..... never crept up to 125kmh on the expressway ?

What solution would you propose ?? Thats if you think stray dogs are a problem at all, you may not... and thus feel perfectly comfortable with your child on a beach with stray dogs running around, or walking down a soi through a pack of dogs, you may not mind the barking and noise at night, you may not feel concerned for the motorcyclist getting knocked off their motorcycles etc.... You may not recognise stray dogs as being a problem at all (meanwhile governments in the western world consider otherwise).... But... IF you do recognise there exist and issue with stray dogs in Thailand - what would you do about it ? --------- I don’t believe in killing the animals - As Bill writes, every animal has a right to life, even though I personally believe humans have greater rights (thats just my human selfishness, I’m comfortable with and accept that criticism).... If in a position of policy and decision making power I would choose to set up teams, sponsor vets to have these animals spayed on a national scale (every male and female) - its a difficult and on-going task, but a necessary one. With continued efforts this would bring the numbers down to a more manageable scale whereby continued efforts to minimise the amount of stray dogs on the street will be manageable. I would also impose that all dogs should have a collar identifying their owner. If found outside of the home (on the streets) the owner is fined, if the dog has no collar, it is taken away and spayed. No solution is perfect, but this would be the most humane and reduce disease, spread of and risk of rabies etc... and of course, the ultimate goal, limit the sufferer of future generations of millions of animals as future generations would not exist (or would exist in limited numbers).

yes .... you are right .. and those feeding them only exasperate the problem. Neutering solves nothing, they still attack and bite people. Take them away to a a 5 rai place and the dog feeders can go live there and feed them until the cows come home. That's the solution. I wonder if Bill takes responsibility IF the stray dogs under his ‘management’ (or care or whatever you would call it) bite someone ?? They’re not his dogs, but he cares for them, feeds them, spays them etc... So they hang around his area.... IF they run out in the road and knock off a motorcyclist, is Bill ultimately responsible ? Given his current line of reasoning he may argue that the road should not be there because that is humans destroying the environment.... Humans (the presence of) is the problem. A similar logic has been applied in some poorer countries when a foreigner is involved (but not at fault) in a vehicle accident - IF the foreigner wasn’t there the accident wouldn't have occurred, ergo, its the foreigners fault.

Two separate arguments - Soi dogs in Thailand ... Humans destroying the environment on this planet. IF you can’t see that a similar statement below could be made of you, Bill.

We know you wrote a book Bill... You keep mentioning it in every thread. But that simply means you spent the time to put opinion to paper - it does not lend weight to an argument if that argument is flawed. Did you read the book by Edward Hendrie - The greatest Lie on Earth ???.... I think that sufficiently makes my point on the validity of argument just because a book has been written. Stray dogs are an issue - whether humans caused this issue is irrelevant.... the issue simply needs to be resolved because humans are not going anywhere regardless of who you want to blame or have a preference for.

It could be argued that you are only as smart as those who feed soi dogs and perpetuate an existing problem.... I do agree, humans cause the ’soi dog issue’.... but through our inaction in controlling their numbers. This ’soi dog issue’ could be resolved in a few years if action is taken - then future generations of dogs will not suffer - why are you refusing to see that aspect ?

The ‘seat belt argument’..... [ I never wore a seat belt and I’m still here - ergo seatbelts are not necessary ]. Those dogs may be placid, or they may not be.... but people nationwide get bitten by stray dogs - if that didn’t happen, this thread wouldn’t exist. Thus, your anecdote is irrelevant - there are already scores of reports of people getting bitten by stray dogs.

Your existing passport is photo ID... Your Thai Driving Licence will have your Address in both Thai and English (on the back). Expect a ‘long wait’ for your renewal passport (i.e. 12 weeks or more according to reports). You will keep your existing passport in hand, but theoretically are not supposed to travel with it.

The rule put in place as a knee-jerk reaction....... Personally, I’d take my own booze and not worry about it - just enjoy a few beers or bottle of wine etc... Why was it banned ?... do you know the history ? Booze was banned because a number of years ago a train conductor got drunk, raped and killed a girl and threw her body off the train - the knee-jerk reaction was to ban alcohol.... Alcohol was the demon, almost as if that was the issue, not the fact that the State Railways made a terribly poor choice in employing said rapist / murderer.

I haven’t had a beer or any alcoholic drink since Monday... But, if I take a train journey I will certainly fancy a few beers to chill out with. What is possibly a ‘bigger issue’ about that ??? Its not that we ‘can’t go 12 hours without a beer’ - thats just your exaggerated projection, one which always surfaces on threads about booze.... “If you can’t even go one buddha day without booze you have bigger problems / are an alcoholic” etc... People like the Op, myself and many others enjoy a beer just as we enjoy nice food - thats it, its a preference not desperation.

No... Bill again, we have different concepts of the words we are using... People ‘nearly’ like you are the problem... You do better because you spay the females preventing further generations of animals which may suffer, at least of those under your ‘management’ (see what I did there). Or... in having the females spayed do you not think you managed, or even dominated the situation ?.... I would consider you managed the situation well, to the best of your capabilities with the space and finances you have available. Without your ‘management’ these dogs would be diseased, pest ridden, fighting, procreated, there would be 100’s more in a few years all suffering... you have prevented this. BUT... people who are ’nearly’ like you, those who believe these animals have greater rights than humans feed these animals, which attract more, then there is a scarcity of food, the procreate, multiply and cause more problems, for themselves and humans in the areas. Those ‘caring humans’ who are ’nearly’ like you Bill, do nothing to improve the situation, they make it worse, unless they can all spay the stray dogs to prevent suffering of further generations. And, Bill, just before you go there... these animals are suffering, otherwise they wouldn't need you to feed them in the first place. As I wrote above... Manage, and manage well. Dominate is your word... were you dominating the female dogs when you forced surgery on them and removed their natural ability to have babies ??... sounds like dominate to me IF I were to take your extreme use of the wording to suit my bias... but I would instead chose to state you managed the situation well. I do agree that I wish to manage my environment and provide myself with comfort and also security - comfort and security from not being attacked by uncontrolled stray animals which are not part of the natural habitat (not just dogs of course) - you wrote as such yourself, WE (humans) CREATED this “problem”.... We have done this throughout time... managed our environment to provide ourselves with comfort and safety... You don’t think animals nest Bill ???... we just do so with far more prolific impact on the environment, I do agree with you there.... But.. this discussion is about ’stray dogs’... by your own admission, soi dogs are part of the environment 'WE (humans) CREATED’... regardless of your thoughts as to how we impact the rest of the environment, the soi dog issue is something we (humans) need to control. I am not feeding soi dogs and encouraging them into residential areas. I agree, neither are you. But, as admirable as they are, you’re actions are a drop in the ocean, they do nothing to resolve the situation of people repeatedly being attacked by soi dogs.

99% eh..... does that fall within the 87.483% of statistics are made up ?

Unfortunately, Bill... that ‘solution’ sets you apart from the rest of us as being somewhat of an extinction rebellion nutter...

I agree... WE (humans) CREATED this “problem”... not so much by bringing all these dogs here in the first place... we didn’t ‘bring’ so many, what we failed to do was control their numbers. Thus, as we (humans) CREATED this “problem”, surely it is also up to us to resolve this problem and prevent tomorrows generations of hundreds of thousands of animals from suffering by dealing with the issue today. No one likes the solutions because there are no easy solutions - sometimes we need to rely on people to make hard choices. And no... I do not believe we need to share our town, city and village streets with stray dogs. Neither do I believe we should share our town, city and village streets with rats, or monitor-lizards or wild elephants... I do not believe we should share our town, city and village streets with over-grown weeds and uncontrolled growth of plants. ‘We’... you and I Bill, have a different understanding of share.... You seem to believe living in co-existence with other species means ‘doing nothing’... I believe differently, that for the benefit of not only ourselves, but these other species and living things we need to manage them, and of course ourselves, intelligently. Allowing stray dogs to run free and wild, procreating and increasing their numbers such that they become pests and ensure further suffering primarily as a result of their excessive numbers is not managing them intelligently - its allowing them to run amok, this favours neither species.

Anyone who has ever tried to or watched someone try to control and even stop a hover-craft may understand.... erm.. no way anything like this ever takes off... (pun intended). Drone delivery in build up areas is also another pending issue - rural area’s fine. In built up areas (cities and towns) there is simply too much that can go wrong - legislation will win.

I admire what you do Bill.... You put your money where your mouth is, you spay the females and feed numerous animals, you are in a remote area where the dogs you ‘look after’ are away from built up area’s. Unfortunately, this is not the solution for a nationwide issue - there are too many dogs and you can’t look after them all. The only solutions I see is to prevent further generations of animals. Either through culling - obviously a hideous solution, but sometimes solutions are tough. Or, through catching a spaying / neutering all animals caught, a more expensive option, but nevertheless doable with the right resources. The real issue - no one in any position of decision making power wants to be accountable and continued apathy towards a lasting issue simply enables the issue to continue... more children will be killed and mauled.

No... but expect a back-lash from those intolerant of utter tosh... Expect a 10 year old child to ‘stand up’ to a pack of soi dog ??? Expect any human to ? Packs of stray dogs are a danger... people like you who think all you have to do is go ‘alpha male’ on the beasts and they’ll run off are utterly ridiculous.

Nope... As soon as they become even remotely close to being a viable mode of transport they will be heavily licensed and legislated against to such a degree to make them utterly pointless. I simply do not see a near future with localised airborne transport being permitted without fully licence pilots, flight plans, restricted air-space etc. The idea that we could ‘pop out on an air-bike from our drive-way or front of condo building and land at an inner city shopping mall, either at the front or on the roof’ and beat the traffic is an utter pipe dream.

That might be true? However, I find it hard to believe that tourists visit the UK because they think that they are going to bump into the head of state on their travels. Of course they don’t.... but it adds the romanticism of the visit... People visiting the UK do so to visit the ‘package’... from Buckingham Palace, to the Tower of London, the London eye, the restaurants etc... and then of course the rest of the UK. I think France does have more to offer the UK, it has better weather and beaches, I suspect much of its tourism is those from around Europe visiting its beach towns and resort areas for there two week annual break. Thus when looking at the whole picture any suggestion that France has greater tourism than the UK in relationship to a past vs present monarchy maybe somewhat flawed.