richard_smith237

According to SAFETY FIRST’s post... we are guess and should not have an opinion, if we don’t like aspects of being here we should go home. We shouldn’t voice any opinions on this forum either... The comment was a woke virtue signalling piece of halfwittery which does not recognise the reality that people are capable of thought.... Foreigners can speak out publicly against the government, companies and laws in the UK, and many other countries and face no fear of or concern for reprisal or ‘bullying’... We cannot do the same in Thailand ?... Why ??? be cause we fear reprisals... .... That itself speaks volumes and identifies something is very wrong !... I wouldn’t make my opinions on Thai Politics public because I am scared of a response which could compromise my future in Thailand and I have a family here - something is very wrong about that. The ‘don’t like it, go home’ response is an intellectually flawed cop-out...

I completely agree.... This whole ‘we’re guests in this country and have no rights to an opinion’ is an utterly flawed concept. That said, voicing such an opinion so publicly is a silly idea.

Is this linked to this ??? (link below).

How silly do you feel now ???? ....and why do people write or say ‘period’ as if they control the debate.. its just like the fools who write ‘I rest my case’... Full stop !! ???? Truck driver clearly 100% at fault... (was the truck driver drunk ?)

Time will tell... Will tourists no longer face hospital bills when injured here because of this insurance ???? Is this the end of ‘go fund me’ campaigns from Thailand ? I’d hope so, but I’m skeptical.

The drivers at the roundabout always have priority. https://traffic-rules.com/en/thailand/traffic-rules/priority-rules Thats the same thing... At the traffic ‘circle’ the vehicles on the right are the vehicles on the roundabout (traffic circle) which are given way to....

Careful... We’re going to get a couple of posters accusing the forum of Thai bashing and post a coupe of articles where someone got electrocuted in other countries !!! Safety is a major concern here - there is no proactive attitude towards it... trying to head off potential issues often lends to the accusation of ‘making a problem’ or 'thinking too much’... forcing a safety issue can make us unpopular. We had a kitchen extension, I wanted a physical switch at the cooker (as they have in the UK) because it was possible to inadvertently turn on the cooker at the touch-sensitive surface, The contractor thought I was mad we already had fuse at the mains - I was faced with the awkward situation of having to force the issue.

C'mon, c'mon, stop being rational, it doesn't go down well here! The drivers who do this [roll their window down]... do so as they pull up and stop with the open window in front of you. You can either tell the taxi driver your direction and he’ll nod or say no. Or you can get in, then tell the taxi driver your direction and he’ll nod and off you go, or say no and you'll have to get out again.... The act of getting in the taxi does not influence the drivers mind and persuade him to go as implied by alex... Thats why "everyone doesn’t get in the back and say hello in Thai......” Also, the guys who rock up to the kerb while opening their window are already halfway into their ‘exit-strategy’... they’re better off just being dismissed and not dealing with.

I think thats a fair stat... 40,000 of the estimated 100,000 taxi’s in Bangkok are driven by tools !!!

Agreed, you may well be following me.. ..... but you haven’t caught up if you equate a discussion on a web-forum to having a problem !!!...

Apparently, not... "The media reported that taxi fares have not increased from 2014" The flag-fall rate has been the same for a very long time (I can’t remember how long). There have also been fare increases.... cost per km and per time stationary increased.

This story is designed to deliberately trigger the ‘anti-vax vs vax’ debate... How about "Nine-year-old in Phuket claims to suffer sustained severe hair loss after eating ice-cream”... Its as silly as the myocarditis / pericarditis debate where anti-vaxxers always omit the fact that Covid-19 suffers are 100x more likely to suffer acute myocarditis or pericarditis than those who have taken the mRNA vaccine... They then completely omit the status that 1 in 10 people suffering from influenza encounter acute myocarditis or pericarditis. The reality is when we become unwell parts of our body become inflamed... this is also the heart, its not rare and its fully recoverable in all but extremely rare cases. These ‘vaccine triggered’ issues citied by anti-vaxxers or those media outlets attempted to trigger debate (and thus clicks) always source such under-whelmingly cherry-picked and overwhelmingly underprepared arguments.

Which vaccine did you take? Does it matter ??... Its the vaccine that made him feel awful... nothing else, the vaccine because the covid vaccines are bad.

No, speaking Thai hardly makes a difference at all when the taxi driver is honest... IF a taxi driver is a good honest person there is never a problem (particularly if you know exactly where you are going). [perhaps 10-20% of taxi drivers] IF a taxi driver is a tool, you are quite likely to find some sort of irritation; from them saying no, to not using the meter, to them driving badly, clocked meters etc. [perhaps 10-20% of taxi drivers] IF a taxi driver is borderline, then it simply depends on the time, the area you are in and the destination. [most taxi drivers fit into this category] This is simply about the character of person behind the wheel.... And those who could be classified poorly deliberately gravitate towards the areas where they believe they can take more of an advantage of the customers.

Knowing Thai certainly helps with the good taxi drivers who can more easily understand you when you state the destination etc... But.. the good taxi drivers are awesome, they drive well, have clean taxi’s will be helpful to anyone even if they don’t speak any Thai or know the direction... they will try. But, in some area’s speaking Thai gets the response of an immediate ‘no'.. those drivers are the ones who are looking to rip off the unsuspecting, they know you know they need the meter on, they know you know the going rate to your destination etc... I always tip if I get a good driver... they usually get rounded up to the nearest 100 Baht or whatever convenient notes I have in my pocket.... (so the flag fall taxi will usually get the same as I pay for Grab anyway). i.e. if the journey is 65 Baht they get 100 Baht... if its 95 Baht they’ll get 120 baht... if its 145 baht they’ll get a 188 or 200 Baht depending on the journey and what I have... I don’t over think it or worry about it.... I just don’t want hassle, but often find myself having to tell the drivers to calm down, I’m not in a hurry etc etc...

So your anecdotal information is proof that every 7 year old can get out of a parked or locked Van ? My Son is 8... If he were locked in our car I’m not sure he would know how to get out. There is a ‘flip switch’ on the door handle but I’m not sure if he knows about it - its not something we’ve ever discussed - the child lock is engaged on the side he sits/ Would he know how to get out of a parked Van with locked ??? I’m really not sure. do vans have child locks to prevent children from opening the door while the van is in motion ? I’m not sure if a child would know where to find the lock, or to climb into the front seat and try and find those locks. I’m not sure he’d think to hit the horn, would the horn even work if the van is locked and powered off ? He wouldn’t have the strength to smash the windows... I’m not sure if the windows of the van slide open (some are locked and can’t). Lots of question... but the assumption that any 7 year old can get out of a locked van is flawed, the reality is probably that some could, some couldn’t.

Agreed... it definitely depends on location. If trying to get a taxi in the Soi 11 area at midnight to 1am... the 5:95 (yes to no) ratio is realistic. If trying to get a taxi down anywhere along Sukhumvit after 5pm the 50/50 ratio is realistic. If trying to get a taxi in Lad-Prao at 2pm in the afternoon 90:10 (yes to no) ratio is realistic. I am sometimes in busy touristy areas, I’m sometimes in busy areas, I’m sometimes in non-busy, non-tourist areas.... I’m in a non-Tourist area now... I need to go 15 mins down the road at 6:45pm... its been raining. If I go out to the main road I don’t know if I can get a taxi immediately, or wait 15 mins with repeated no’s. I’ll call a grab or get the wife to take me !!! First world problems !!!

I definitely prefer Grab in Thailand... but it depends where I am, what I’m doing etc. Sometimes its just easier to walk out of a pub and flag down a passing taxi... but sometimes at the wrong time of evening or imperfect location we’ll get the repeated ’no go’ response which can be annoying....

Agreed.... but while Thailand makes the announcements that it is struggling for tourists the Optics of such policies are pretty hideous as it tells ‘potential tourists’ we don’t value you, just your money. At least they are honest - but ‘demanding money’ rather than ‘earning’ money is part of this which is has a whiffy stench of greed...

The open an account here and make online transfers as and when needed.

Start by removing some of the walls you have erected yourself. You can have two bank accounts - a second account does not cost any extra. You don’t need to ‘set up an automatic payment schedule’... You can transfer money across to a Bank here as and when you need it...i.e. every few months (many people do this). Forget money from credit cards, as you say, circus of horrors and the rates are extortionate. Simple solution: Open a Bank account here... transfer the money when you need it.

Perhaps it wasn’t so preposterous over a decade ago....

I think everyone is quite happy to see the Taxi drivers receive a deserved and fare increase to their tariff to bring their rates back into parity with the cost of fuel and living. This is especially good for the many honest hard working drivers out there who deserve a break. Now those drivers who cheat customers, refuse fares, quote higher rates or run up the meter can’t use the ‘low rates’ as an excuse.... what will their excuses be now ???

What would people do without your advice ??? You clearly have this conundrum cracked !!.... amazing stuff... ’stand on the same side of the road as your intended direction’.... Spectacular... wisdom has clearly chased you your whole life... well done for outrunning it !!!

Is this on a ’takes one to know one’ basis where the driver will immediately recognise his own kind and refrain from rejecting the fare ?