richard_smith237

If these check points were so effective at saving lives why aren't the same techniques utilised in developed nations where road safety is significantly greater ? Check points are lazy policing. I don't think anyone has anything against effective policing... its the 'silly stuff' or 'revenue grabbing' that draws criticism. When the police at a check-point take 200 or 500 baht from a person not wearing a helmet and they let them continue on their way we know its not about safety.

This is the correct answer. The same setting exists in their mobile app. If I recall correctly the setting is somewhere near where you set which currency to show. That answers something that has been bugging me for a few years !!! Why sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't show the full price. I use more than one browser.... thats clearly why, each with a different setting !!

Rubbish. I'm in Pattaya and Agoda showed me prices before taxes on every hotel I looked at Then thats very odd.... because I had the opposite experience.... Strangely... it doenst matter where I set my VPN to now (Thailand or outside) - Agoda always lists the price per night 'After Taxes & Fees'.... As I mentioned - there's no rhyme or reason and it seems everyones experience differs...

C'mon.... are you really that incapable ????

You can change to show/view the total price in Agoda on the main page before starting to book. Booking.com shows the price of the full stay - its the most open, but sometimes the 'deal' is slightly different and things like breakfast are or aren't offered etc when compared to similar pricing on Agoda and other platforms. Agoda.com shows the price per night... when logging on from within Thailand Agoda shows the price per night including taxes etc... (caveat, for 'most hotels - its not always so). When logging on from outside Thailand, Agoda shows the nightly price before taxes. Confused ???... its a bit of a PITA but we just have to be aware... and all platforms show the full price before you pull the trigger.

Its not always simple... A lot of the sites price based on your location. I'm often overseas and the Wife and I look for hotels for a break etc... (agoda / booking.com etc) Sometimes from overseas its cheaper... A recent booking (hotel) in Thailand was about about 13,000 baht (looking at Agoda from overseas), pricing for the Wife (in Thailand) was about 17,000 baht (identical booking). Its also often cheaper to book a Thai hotel from Thailand..... It seems there is no rhyme or reason - but it pays to shop about and use a VPN etc...

It's dumb to blame one thing and not the other.... the reality is there was more than one key failure leading to this incident and both are to blame... 1) The girl climbed out of the window and tried to access the balcony. 2) The railing was loose - poor construction & safety standards.

I know its difficult to name... but which hosptial ???.... somethinggrad, somethingvej, somethingkok? Any procedure my Wife and I have had at Hosptials in Bangkok have all required pre-authorisation from insurance and thus a cost estimate was provided (the final costs usually being below this). So.. its very strange that they hospital failed on this. Additionally, you are quite right, the cost seems extremely excessive for what is a relatively simple procedure. A recent procedure (knee arthroscopy) was estimated to cost 360,000 baht at Bumrungrad, the actual cost was about 60,000 baht less than the estimate.

Perfectly understandable complaints.... lots of other people around are simply ignorant and inconsiderate... #1-3 - this is just an incredible degree of inconsideration towards others (these people need a slap across the head). #4 - If the 'mode of transport' is not busy, I dont see this as a major issue, so long as the person takes off their shoes and feet are clean. #5 - As above... 'mode of transport' is not busy, but make space if it's getting busy. #6 - People just being ignorant of their surroundings. #7 - Unacceptable and highlights a degree of inconsideration and ignorance - anyone encountering this needs to ask the people behind not to do so (I can't be worse with little kids behind as they like to stretch out and put their feet on the back of the seat in front - when travelling with my son I had a rule not to 'touch' the seat in front at all). Most travellers are respectful - but the problem with sharing space with other people is that we are always subjected to the lowest common denominator - its one of the reasons business class on flights is far more desirable, its not just about the comfort of the seats, but about minimising the potential for ignorant and annoying inconsiderate people around you.

or are you projecting that because thats what you think you'd turn into.... Regardless of how other people having money makes you feel, the Ops criticisms are valid.... You may not understand that if you are don't have similar spending power or don't wish make any higher end purchases... such as a house, higher end car, luxury items etc....

In every thread where a Merc is mentioned there is always someone who points out that its used as a Taxi in Germany.... !!.... But, really, who cares... Its still nicer than an Altis !! & thats irrelevant to the thread.... A person drove a car cutting across two lanes and cut off a motorcycle. Whatever the nationality, whatever the car, whatever the sex of the driver - mistake was made through driving without care and attention and possibly even breaking traffic rules. The photo clearly shows the car driver to be completely at fault. I hope the motorcyclists is justly compensated and the driver faces appropriate charges.

Put any of them in in any form of health danger and see them fold on their principles.... In fact, remove any of the comforts they enjoy that are provided them as a direct result of the Oil & Gas industry and we'd see the measure of their resolve. These people are just fools... If they weren't protesting against oil, they'd be protesting against something else... they're just habitual protesters looking for a cause.

Two possible options for installation. 1) Hard Wiring - Check your warranty as a hard wired dash-cam could void the warranty (for any electrical issues). - Hard Wiring with a fuse tap is simple... (plenty of videos), you can hard wire to an 'always on' circuit, or an 'ignition off-off' circuit depending if you want parking mode or not. Note - IF hard wiring to an 'always on' circuit, ensure you use a 'battery magic' device to protect against battery drain (the battery magic turns off the cam if usage while parked takes the battery power to below a pre-set voltage (i.e. 12.0 volts etc). 2) 12v plug - which is the simplest and wont void any warranty - this installation is by far the easiest and any cabling is extremely simple to route through the upholstery and down any pillars etc. I'm not particularly tech-minded, yet I have installed FWD and rear facing dash-cams on two of my motorcycles (Innov K2) and on about 5 Cars.... So.. don't worry too much this is something that can easily be done yourself in half an hour, otherwise, perhaps at a place such as cockpit or a car electrics shop (the kind of place which sells car audio etc) - but you should know which circuit into which you wish to hook in the dash-cam power and to have the right kit to prevent battery drain etc...

Obviously in this case, it was a rural road... But, in many other examples the signs, posts etc on the sides are the roads are positioned so poorly that when someone makes a 'mistake' the consequences are devastating.....

Then there are some who want to make "observations" about situations, such as the state of the road, with nothing being observable. MY observations from the photos and article. - Road looks decent, but a narrow rural road. - Pickup was loaded with people. - Pickup was speeding and over taking. Assumption - IF there was a blowout, it was likely due to under-inflated tyres. It's just an assumption, but one I suspect probable.

There are no pictures in the OP that enable that observation to be made apart from a couple of metres shown alongside a rescue vehicle! From what can be seen of the road in the available photo's, the condition of the road looks decent. You can assume there was a huge pot hole out of shot if it makes you feel better.

If we were to have any discussion up to your standards then they would be held in a court room with access only to undisputed facts - this is not the case on a forum which is specifically designed for discussion. Although its clear from all of your posts (on every thread) that you are unable to arrive at any conclusion of your own instead rigidly believing anything written in what is often a poorly written article very thin on information, others are capable of 'making assumptions' based on experience and information.... I also suppose bias comes into it... and my bias is that when there is a pickup loaded with people travelling at speed, its usually driven by someone who isn't particularly careful or fastidious about safety, especially in a country where safety its not a priority... So, assumptions can be drawn for the purposes of discussion... You clearly do not like people discussing these assumptions and are only willing to discuss what is written in an article, yet you forget that what often is written in an article is often someone else's assumption or interpretation of what has happened.... IF you only want RIP comments, you should perhaps start reading obituaries, if you don't want discussion read the news...

There are plenty of wonderful things in Thailand, thats why many of us are here. However, on a thread such as this we're not going to be discussing the wonderful food and beaches... the subject of driving and vehicle maintenance will naturally surface. Some want to consider it a Thai-bash... but Thai's themselves will admit that maintenance of equipment here is not a priority, that attitudes towards safety are low... I may be wrong of course, but I would bet that if they took the pressures of the other tires they'd find them under-pressure. One of the issues of course is that no one wants to learn from these incidents because that takes effort and it's easier just to call it an accident. Then, in these discussions 'some' don't want to discuss possibilities if it wasn't mentioned in the article instead rigidly sticking to only what was written (often very poorly written).

I've seen worse. There might have been a nail or screw on the road that caused the puncture. Even a pothole. Has happened to me a few times over the years. To be fair, the tyres look as if they are in decent condition, but so were mine when I had a blow-out. We can't tell from the picture if they were at 15 psi or 36 psi... From the photo's the road looks very rural, but in good condition, I don't see any potholes etc. I've gone over nails and screws etc... they haven't caused a blow-out...

C'mon, suggesting a rational possible explanation as opposed to the par-for-the-course, moronic, chronic Thai-bashing assertions won't go down well here! It's all part of the 'discussion'... what happened ? how was it caused ? possible explanations etc. Suggesting that the tyres may not have been at operating pressure is not a Thai bash, its the most common cause of blow-outs. Loading the pickup with passengers in the flatbed is fact... Is it a Thai bash to suggest that there are many poorly maintained vehicles on the road onto which people are loaded and placed at risk and as such its a possibility that this was the case here ? I don't think it's a Thai bash so much as stating an a degree of likelihood. It seems when anyone has anything to comment on about Thailand or Thai's which is not wholly positive there is always someone levying the accusation of 'Thai Bashing'... Yet, I know many Thai's who make exactly the same assumptions... It would appear for some that we (non-Thai's) are not permitted to make observations about Thailand which aren't flattering otherwise we are accused of being Thai bashers.

"...just the driver making an excuse..." The driver is dead. The tyre burst as he was overtaking another pickup. Thanks... I missed that in the Op (link)... How does a 'tyre burst' and blow out... I've driven over sharp objects that have caused puncture, but not the catastrophic blowout described. I've had a catastrophic blowout which was completely my own fault as my tires were under-inflated. I guess hitting a 'pot hole' could cause a instant / catastrophic blowout...

Op perhaps needs to clarify - is this a one off 6-9 month visit, or something he intends to do yearly? If the Op could provide his age would also help others provide accurate advice.

Its a discussion forum... IF no assumption or discussion is to be entertained then we'd be reading a 'news site' not a forum to which we take part and contribute. Back on topic: Would a nail or something similar cause a good tyre inflated to the correct pressures to 'blow out' ??? OR, was it the most common cause of blow-out... under-inflation. Was it a blow-out at all, or is this just the driver making an excuse and blaming something else ? The road looks quite small (a minor road) - I wonder how fast the driver was going to cause so much damage. -------- Slightly off topic... In a seemingly 'remote area' (looking at the road)... the scene is crowed with onlookers..

Where's Khun LA ???..... Wouldn't have happened if it was an MG EV !!!

Do you think the tyre would have still 'blown out' if it was in good condition at the correct pressures? I had a 'blow out' years ago, I didn't call it an accident. My tyre pressures were too low. I didn't call it an accident, I called it my fault !!!... While the incident was obviously unexpected and unintentional, it would not appear that this it occurred by chance without apparent cause... The cause of the incident is apparent - tires unfit for use. The cause of the high number of deaths is also apparent, transporting a number of people in a vehicle not designed for carrying people which was also unfit for use. While we can be sympathetic to the tragedy of the incident, the realities are that this was caused by human negligence and as such was completely avoidable, thus not an 'accident'.