richard_smith237

And a year on proved to have changed nothing. Very sad but very true... Most of the posters on this forum predicted exactly that... (that nothing would change).... ... Sadly, its too easy to predict that nothing will continue to change - simply put those in positions of decision making power do not care enough enact from the ground up the cultural shift required for any improvement to be recognise. Thailand had an opportunity 20 years ago to start doing something about this issue and today it would be recognising the benefits today.... Thailand now need to start educating todays children so tomorrows adults can protect tomorrows children.... Exactly as Aussienam wrote, a ground up approach is required to completely shift the culture into a mindset of one in which its people are considerate of others outside of their immediate circle of influence. I look at Thailands road users and I see a society of people who behind the veil of a windscreen show their true colours otherwise not observed in person due to enforced cultural expectations of kraeng-jai and face... This is a horrible blight on a people who would otherwise be considered very caring and considerate.... ... When visiting other countries I often wonder if the mindset of its road users offers an insight in the the true soul and character of a nation - I hope not for Thailands sake.

That's a nice way to put it. The agent bribes a corrupt Immigration police officer to allow foreigners, who don't meet requirements to be here, to get a visa. Exactly..... Thats the only reason I can imagine many would bother using an agent... Unless of course as the example another poster mentioned when there really was so much other stuff going on he really didn’t want to use previous time dealing with visa-logistics...

Erm... the OP has stated she is very attractive... some guys just see any non-western female who happens to be slim as a attractive... perception clearly varies and this is very much eye of the beholder territory... ... The Ops version of attractive could be my version of leathery worn and torn splay toed mutton dressed as lamb who’s gone through the gogo-mill, or she could actually be a ‘stunner’..... but I very much doubt a stunner is going around chatting up 70 year old pensioners, because even at 40 years old, good looking ‘respectable’ stunners are still getting plenty of attention from plenty of well to do Thai guys... unless of course they can see what it seems plenty of westerners can’t... ...if we’re going to ignore the exchange of money, then Sha&&ing so quickly is perhaps the give away here... not that it matters, if the Op’s mate is happy and careful - good luck to him.

Not sure how thats an insult, even for the extremely thin skinned... you chose not to go, your choice. Perhaps you chose that you ‘were unable to go’.... [ (c) The ‘unable’ ] But, the reality is you were able to go, as you mentioned you prioritised your time, even though immigration visit takes a few hours. Did the Visa agent do what you were fully able to do yourself ? or where you expecting them to circumnavigate some regulations i.e. [ (b) 'the needy’ ] you need them to do something you can’t ? But as you mentioned, you chose to prioritise... perhaps a combo of (b) and (c)... must have been stressful... but there no need to get butthurt about it.... you were ripped off by an agent, the Op maybe getting ripped off by an agent too... there have been plenty of threads recently of people getting ripped off by agents... Lesson learned: Do not use agents for something you can do yourself.

Fair enough... IF so... why not just tell the truth ??... Poor language / communication ? Why not just get the bosses phone number so the Op can speak with the ‘the boss’ directly and find out whats going on ???

With quality of articles we’ve been getting on this forum it wouldn’t be a surprise if a photo was taken from a different story, its happened a few times already.... hence the caveat... ‘IF’....

Would you have ever offered any money for taxi, petrol or otherwise after a sexual encounter in your home country ?.... I think thats what there is to see here... Its easy to normalise this sort of behaviour in Thailand, but take Thailand out of the context and we have something less ambiguous.

Looking for incentive to go to the Gym Billy ??? Grooming.... ideas here....

Hope your better with cars than names. Love it when someone goes ‘gramma police’ (in this case name’s) and gets it wrong !!!

Not on that list is the Diamond encrusted Rolex that was also stolen... As usual, the article is very poorly written and absent of facts to round off the article.

Its been proven that talking on the phone while driving is more distracting than talking to someone sat next you while driving... And yes.. playing music and the type of music can also influence they way you drive... thats been proven too. Time to start doing some basic research before you post stupid questions !!

IF that picture is from the incident... ... Then the deceased wasn’t simply 'crossing a poorly lit road'... he 'ran out in front of on-comming traffic, apparently without looking'. But... Also note the photo shows 114kmh... Did the guy run out in front of the car after poorly judging the approaching speed ? Looks like the drivers own dash-cam footage is self incriminating.

yes it will, as it becomes a cummulative effect of all other costs, double pricing, headches and unexpected regulations, it was 200/day for driving with no licence now it is 33usd per day...... Nope... Double pricing doesn’t really impact tourist numbers in any significant manner either... Its just angry posters on this forum who think so... People are not going to cancel a trip because they may get fined $30 for riding a motorcycle without a licence. But... if you want to believe that people will cancel a $3000 holiday because a $6 or $15 fine has gone up to $30... one or two may, but not in any noticeable numbers.... It is things such as government announcements of requirement Vaccinations or pre-travel PCR tests, insurance etc that impact numbers... not this minor stuff...

Absolutely. A total warning!! Indeed.... Agents used by... a) The Lazy b) The ’needy' c) The ‘unable' i.e. a) Someone can’t be bothered to go through the hassle of renewal and gets an agent to do if for them. b) Someone doesn’t meet some criteria, an agent circumnavigates that stumbling block. c) Someone is physically unable to go to immigration i.e. immobile etc.. I’d argue that b) fits most cases for people using an agent and by that mere fact they are entering the grey area of illegality and those inhabiting that grey area are always going to be of questionable moral fabric. None of this helps the Op though - knowing if there is a physical office is a good start.

Here you go... https://www.oed.com It’ll help you understand what ‘instruction’ means !!

Question to the owners of PitBull type breeds... actually, any dog ?? The postman accidentally leaves you gate open... there are kids playing in the street - Your dog sees the gap and darts out... (I know I know, your dog would never do that right ? - yet in so many dog attacks this is exactly what happened).... You hear the commotion and noise outside... kids screaming... you run out and see the kids playing with the dog, the dog playfully barking and bounding around with them... Did you... A) Have a sense of utter relief that your dog didn’t attack. B) Not even worry about it, you knew your dog was 100% safe.

Question to the owners of PitBull type breeds... actually, any dog ?? Would you state A or B ?? A) My dog is so well trained it would never bite anyone... B) My dog is so well trained, but its still a dog so there is always a risk of it biting someone...

I’d never say ‘devil’ dog.. that is you playing the victim card to try and elevate your position in this discussion due to a lack of viable argument to present.... TimeBomb... again, inflammatory sentiment... You discuss your dog and bring emotion to the discussion and get hurt because we are offending your sensitivities and discussing your dog.... This debate is not about YOUR dog... Your dog is probably wonderful because you and others like you have done a wonderful job of loving, training and looking after your dog. This debate is about the dog, or numerous dogs around Thailand (and other areas of the world) which go unloved, untrained unlooked after... ... That dog down the road... the one locked in the cage, has never been trained - its a poodle... one day it escapes... its not really a threat is it.. but... and there in lies the argument and crux of the debate. It not your PitBill breed thats the problem... Its everyone else’s

WRONG - I have no problem with socialised dogs... I have a problem with a breed that IF it is not well trained and well socialised it becomes a danger to society. It is not the good breeders and owners I (and people like me) have issue with... It is the fact that children and adults are getting viciously attacked too many times by those dogs which have irresponsible owners. IF those same irresponsible owners had *golden retrievers those dogs wouldn’t fall back on an instinct and attack, maim and kill people to the same extent (yes, it has happened, but not in anywhere near the same numbers) *or other less powerful dogs (other dogs not on dangers dogs lists in developed nations) . There is more ownership of Golden retreivers than PitBulls, so why is it that there are more vicious life changing and deadly PitBull attacks ??... is that the more PitBull owners are careless? (of course not) or is it that when any owner is careless and doesn’t look after or train their animal that a dogs nature takes over and if that dog is also extremely powerful and bred to develop specific ‘attack / fighting’ traits and instincts then that is what will surface....

Does first hand experience or ownership of PitBull Breeds void the fact that they attack more than any other dog, that they kill more people than any other dog ??? You owning this breed neither contributes to or nullifies any of the facts or statistics. The only facet your ownership and direct experience of such breeds brings to the discussion is ‘emotion’ which clouds objectivity through personal attachment and nothing more than individual anecdote. Your PitBull breeds may be lovely.... Its all the others that attack and maim children adults which are the problem.

My motorcycle doesn’t get ‘triggered’ and rip off a grannies face... Now, if you want the motorcycle debate it can be had in a motorcycle thread where no one says motorcycling is safe... The argument I have always presented is that for those of us who are careful and follow the rules it is much safer than the stats suggest which are contributed to by reckless fools speeding at night while drunk... That is perhaps too difficult for you to understand ? Your comment is wholly irrelevant to this thread !!!...

To be fair... The Op led with very little info then followed up with further limited info.... We see the same pattern... someone gets into some difficulty and asks for assistance with a vague post which offers little information to help others help them... Not to victim blame, but I often wonder if this same lack of attention to details is the very issue which causes these people to put themselves in such difficult in the first place. My first piece of advice to the Op would be to go directly to the physical office of the Agency - but we don’t know if the agency even has a physical office. The second piece of advice would be to get hold of someone, meet them in person (if not at an office) and while in their presence try and make contact and call this boss - just to get some honest answers... Then of course the question to the Op.. why did they need an agent in the first place ? Could they have obtained a visa themselves, or was this agent utilised to circumnavigate a regulation (i.e. 800k baht in the bank etc) which will help others provide a better path forwards... along with, how many visa exempt entries etc... It could be possible for the Op to get his passport back without the extensions, border hop to get himself more time... But we just don’t have sufficient info to help at this time.

Happened to me once... I’d been up early... then had been driving for a few hours, comfy car, about 3pm... long straight empty road (Thailand - driving up towards Tak) road nice quiet, no stress, cursing at about 90kmh... Then shock.... scared-sh!tless... I realised I’d just drifted off for a micro-second. I’d never done it before, I’ve never done it since (that was about 15 years ago) - but it happened and it can happen easily. I didn’t ease of the accelerator... my body remained in the same position... I didn’t even deviate off the road etc (some do if you see the videos of ppl falling asleep while driving).... BUT, I definitely nodded off for a micro-second... or even a second or two.... Quite frightening.

True..... but then there is the fact that PitBull type breeds attack more and kill more people than any other breed by a long shot... The main article article is somewhat inflammatory... other articles quote ‘PitBull mixes’... which suggests they were not pure-bred Bull Terrier breads. The implication is still ‘PitBull’ breed, mix or otherwise, its yet another attack damning for the reputation of the breed.... Its like mass gun shootings in the USA... everyone on the ‘outside’ just thinks... 'Oh, no, again... its madness that this is allowed to continue’.... and the pro-gun folk blame anything but the fact so many people have guns !!... then there is a shooting in the UK and the pro-gun people try and argue that because it happens elsewhere banning guns won’t reduce the degree of mass shootings in the US... utter madness... And here... we have the arguement... they may not have been 100% PitBull bred and we don’t know what the story is or how they were treated..... The reality is, this wasn’t a Collie, Labrador or Poodle that attacked... it was yet another PitBull exacting a savage facial attack on an old lady who’s only mistake was walking down the road past a partially open gate.... Nope... There is no polishing this.... perhaps the news is bias against PitBulls - Why is that ?... perhaps we who comment negatively are all Bias against PitBulls, but why is that ?... The simple answer is that its because PitBull type breeds attack and kill more than any other domesticated animal to such a degree to suggest that such an animal may never truly be domesticated.... for the same reason pets such as Serval Cats should never be kept as pets... https://thethaiger.com/news/national/four-pit-bull-mixes-attack-76-year-old-grandma-in-northeast-thailand

Aww.... if you can tear yourself away from your ortolan you really should rough it a little... You could use your cravat as a napkin....