richard_smith237

Dream on... Yeah right... Exactly this.... Their behaviour of those refusing fares is inherent. Its not going to alter with a 5 baht increase in flag-fall rates. Taxi drivers facing points !! .... do they have licences and are they ever checked ??? I support the increase in flag fall fare for the taxi driver - its only fare. But to suggest this will improve any behaviour of the drivers who cheat, refuse to use the meter or run up the meter is ridiculous... the spots on those leopards are fixed.

Photoshopped.... along with the ‘baby in the bucket’ photo....

Kids are kids... they’ll just pile out of a van... it is not unfeasible at all that kids will just climb out of a van and forget about or not notice one left behind who fell asleep. Kids get left behind all the time.. it happens. How many times have you been out with a group of friends and one gets lost or left behind somewhere?... And.. IF the doors and windows were locked, how does a 7 year old get out ??? How do the doors of the van unlock from the inside? I don’t know.

Agreed.... the issue is of course the distrust in the police. In the UK you get a £200 fine and 6 penalty points (you’re maxed out at 12) if you hold and use a phone, sat nav, tablet, or any device that can send and receive data while driving or riding a motorcycle. In Thailand you argue with the policeman, call up a friend, friend tells them he knows someone more powerful... etc etc... Or just argue you were not... who’s going to believe the policeman who just wants his 200 baht bribe ??? OR... you are caught on camera and receive a fixed penalty notice... Big deal... it seems only a handful of posters on this forum are worried about those. Everyone else bins them !!! The ’system’ has to be respected first, and for the system to be respected it has to be honourable, and for it to be honourable it has to be incorruptible and function with honesty... this is somewhat of a challenge in a country where corruption is endemic.

You’re not the guy who blocked traffic stopping in the middle lane on Sukhumvit rd the other day, are you ????

Wouldn’t it be amazing if these laws already were in place...

Exaggerate much.. ?? A country which is intelligently and well policed for the protection of society is not a ‘Police State’, your use of that phrase attempts instills and Orwellian fear (1984) or generate impressions of the Stasi’... stopping people from putting innocent lives at risk is not ‘over policing’ as your ‘police state’ comment implies. (nearly) Everybody, Thai’s included want Thailand to be a safer place for their family, loved ones, those they care about and everyone else those they care about care about.... ... If this this means the lowest common denominator of stupid selfish people riding and driving while looking at their phones, while drunk or jumping red lights etc attracted police attention and fines that is fine with me, I support it... That does not make a police state, No !... it would make Thailand a country in which the police make efforts to protect the community - those efforts are currently lacking.

Does that lead to ‘bleeding’ ?? there were reports of blood. [She was face down, pale, with blood coming out of her mouth] How many of those 20 to 30 negligent van drivers who forgot children in vehicles served prison time for their criminal negligence ???? He should have also noted that she should never have needed to... How should a 7 year old respond to being locked in van in a car-park, especially if everyone has already deserted that car-park? Does a 7 year old know how to open the windows? could the windows Open? My Son is 8... IF our car is locked, he can’t get out, at all. At the ‘very least’... so there is already scope for slack.. Does the horn even work in a locked vehicle ?

Bingo.... the predictable ‘crack-down’....

Sadly, like flouting of helmet laws, using a phone has become the norm - the entitlement of normalcy and the habit of using the phone while on / in a vehicle has set in... Its very difficult to change the habits of a nation.... crack-downs do not work - the ‘give a F factor’ of those in positions of decision making power is ‘no F’s given’... they just announce a law, they think they look good because they made an announcement. In a country where face is so very important it astonishes me that when someone in a position of power makes a statement / announces a crack-down etc that it is not carried through. Nearly every time an announcement is made to kerb this, prevent that, cut down on this, stop that nothing is done, there is no change - surely this is an ultimate loss of face !!... Or, the face only matters at 1 degree of separation amongst those immediately surrounding said ‘out of touch’ fool...

I agree with this... In the car - Even with in system connectivity (i.e. phone going through car speakers etc) talking on the phone while driving is a distraction. I hate it. If it's someone I don’t know, I tell them I’m driving call back in xx mins / hrs.... If it's someone I know I’ll just tell them I’ll call back. I don’t want to be driving while on a call. On the motorcycle - I have a QuadLock which I use to follow GPS directions when or if I need them, thats rarely. At all other times the phone remains in the bag or in a pocket - thats just self preservation.

If I’m not mistaken the law already exists banning the use of handheld phones while driving / riding. Thus: For cars and motorcycles, mounted devices are (should be) acceptable, so that they can be used to follow GPS / Map directions and take calls to a wifi headset (or wired headset). Motorcyclists and drivers who are found in motion while ‘holding’ a phone that isn’t secured should face fines. Of course - laws are not followed anyway until there is ‘media / netizen outrage’ when an innocent child gets killed because someone was using their phone. Then there is a two week crack-down which everyone ignores so the police stop bothering.

I agree with you all you write with the exception of changes to the e-visa process. Simply remove it and have a longer Visa Exempt entry for all arrivals, give arrivals 90 days. Just make it as easy as possible for tourists, remove all restrictions and welcome tourists with promotions. We have a winter trip booked to Japan, currently vaccinated tourists can enter, but they have to be part of a ‘tour group’ and we have to apply in advance for a Visa. If that is still the case by Jan then I’ll just pull the plug and not bother, I’ve no interest in silly rules and particularly no interest in being a part of a tour-group.

What sort of car is it ? If its a standard run of the mill car, toyota, honda etc... then its not really a big deal, you just get what you get when you can... IF you are not bothered about which car you get... i.e. it could be a CRV vs Mazda CX-5... or Accord vs Camry, or Jazz vs Yaris, or 5 Series vs E Class etc then go with whichever suits your timing the best. OR... are you worried about re-sale in 5 years time? in which case I’d be more concerned about the resale of the ‘brand / model’ itself (in which case Toyota / Merc are the conventionally the better options for a better resale value).

hmm... feelings !!.... I feel your comment is utterly irrelevant !!!

Into ‘a’ country... Flying into Thailand, you mean ? and you need proof of onward flight ?

I used to get Aspilets... readily available before Covid. I’m not sure if they are available now, but it may be worth asking for those if you are after Baby Aspirin and using a name pharmacists or staff may be familiar with.

Exactly... https://www.thaipbsworld.com/motorcyclists-who-drive-on-sidewalks-now-face-a-maximum-fine-of-2000-baht/

Realistically the ‘van monitor was never needed. It was a typical Thai solution which superficially dealt with a problem without solving the real issue. The real solution is of course ensuring drivers were fully accountable and responsible. Ultimately, too many tragic events occurred, too many drivers proven un-responsible so the responsibility was passed over a ‘van-monitor’. The astonishing part of all this: IF someone is not responsible to ensure children are not locked in a bus, how are they possibly responsible to drive that bus ???... ‘elephant in the room’ !!!

Perhaps the article is unclear, but wasn’t the child on the bus initially (i.e. transport to school), thus she never turned up in class ? OR, as you suggest, could the child have been on a different bus, and somehow ‘intercepted’ and placed on this other bus later to mask the unthinkable ? I agree with you... innocent until proven guilty, however the primary suspect and primary person accountable remains the driver and he needs to be questioned extremely firmly.

erm.... in your comical also somewhat pathetic tirade you have completely missed the point that many international hubs do indeed have these very automated check points where people have to scan their boarding passes before entering the secure area.

No...... and not the ‘tragedy’... it either ‘criminal negligence’ or a ‘criminal act’ and it starts and finishes with the driver.....

Thats why the mother suspects foul play. There was also a law put in place that all school vans had a second adult as a ‘van-monitor’... of course, the rules mean nothing.

There are numerous stories of exactly that happening in Thailand (reported often on this very forum) - a child falls asleep on the school bus, gets accidentally carelessly locked in the bus, bus is parked in the sun... The child dies through dehydration and heat-exhaustion. That said: She was 7 years old and ‘should’ know how to exit a parked / locked bus which is why the mother is questioning the drivers story of events.