richard_smith237

Perhaps... But I doubt he was drinking in his car... The excuse of having ‘some’ empty wine bottles in the car seems plausible... i.e. that the GF of a friend wanted them - fair enough.... But that does not mean he [the Bentley driver] had no part in consuming the wine from said wine bottles... The vast majority of establishments have CCTV... I’m not sure where they were drinking, but if its in a public place (i.e. bar or restaurant) it could be established how much he had to drink.

Is is also being charged with dangerous / reckless driving ?

What makes you think there is some sort of ‘form’ ??? There’s no such thing...

The accident is the result... the proof of dangerous and reckless driving in is the footage from the dash-cam of a following car - that’s damning enough. Well, which was it, 1 or 2 ???... A BAC of 20mg 5 hrs later implies approximately 8 units were consumed.... thats more than one or two glasses of ‘champers’... The real issue here is obviously DUI, but the other major facet which seems to be overlooked is that he was driving like an utter lunatic.

Congratulations on your 1992 World Championship BTW...

There have been a number of these ‘Credit Card’ insurance issues lately. When I was young with a UK credit card, I was of the opinion that I was fully covered when on holiday. Why wouldn’t I be ??..... the advertisments were repeatedly throwing it at me how I’d be fully insured ? In reality - the companies are not very good at spelling out specifically what is and isn’t covered or the need to activate the insurance before travel.

Is it ?... I mean has it been implemented ? is there any further information on this ? AND... when / if its put in place.. is it just for hospitals to claim back un-paid bills rather than to pay the bills of any injured foreigner (in the same manner as health insurance) ?

He wasn’t over the drink driving limit by the time he was tested. Its obvious to any of us that the BAC 5 hours later is a lot less than it would have been at the time of the accident. The report also states less than 20mg, but doesn't state exactly what his BAC was. It could be argued by an expert witness (i.e. a Doctor) that his BAC 5 hours after the accident proves he was DUI. You seem to want absolute black and white proof in a grey world and approach these discussions with such a mindset. He wasn’t tested for alcohol shortly after the accident, in many countries that may not be sufficient proof to highlight he was under the legal DUI limit. In Thailand this may not be investigated, particularly so for someone of wealth and influence.... Your comments seem to defend this ideology not matter what.

I don’t think he claimed a heart condition... didn’t he claim 'chest pains'... (could have been from the seatbelt or air-bag).

Agreed... Basic BAC calculators show that to have had a BAC of 20mg/100ml (i.e. 0.02%) after 5 hours he needs to have had 8 standard shots of spirits - which at the time would have placed him at 100mg/100ml (0.01%) 5 hrs earlier - Double the legal limit to drive. https://www.drinkdriving.org/bac-calculator.php

Its a forum designed for discussion... We can speculate... You seem to think you are taking part in a legal discussion and we can only discuss undeniable proven fact... ... Not being lawyers and not being held to account for our comments we have the freedom to discuss the probable.... In this case - given the environment we face ourselves in; from extremely common DUI, to the obviously lack of regard for law shown by the wealthy, to the ease with which they are not held accountable to the laws and to the utter ineffectiveness of law enforcement in Thailand we can all very easily draw the ‘assumption’ that this guy was ‘quite pished up and used his influence to circumnavigate formalities to avoid further legal action’.... its par for the course here.

Good info in there... I had no idea that the British Embassy had stopped issuing the Affirmation of Residence letter. With my last one (a number of years back) they mentioned that the will issue such a letter with a P.E. or S.E. Visa (Thai Elite)... but not to those with a Tourist Visa or Visa Exempt entry - so things must have changed again. This is where getting a Yellow House Book can be very advantageous.

ah.. well, there’s is that... I overlooked the idea that you had humour !!! I either rock-up, waltz up or swoon.... its very situational... ... often turns into more of a stumble and sometimes combined with a hiccup and a dribble...

[if wealthy] you’d buy a GT-Continental for someone else to drive? .... Wealthy guys who have Ferarri’s & Lambo’s also drive them themselves.

Lol, the so called Island resort in Hangover 2 was actually on the mainland. it’s the Phulay Bay Ritz Carlton in Krabi, set on beautiful Tubkaek Beach near to the town of Ao Nang in Krabi. Yeah... but they still used an exceptionally fast boat to get down through the Malacca straights, round Singapore and back up through the gulf all in a few hours !!

Pay for damage, fair enough.... as for the rest... Over-egg the pudding much ??? ....Deportation and black-listing ??? the 'cardigans and corduroy crowd’ are in heavy force in this thread.... I bet some of you guys were locally famed for sucking the life out of a party and flat-lining any social occasion you attended....

Options: 1) Bangkok Airways - BKK-Samui: Get to Samui and chill out. 2) Thai Smile - BKK-Surrathani, then ferry to Samui. 3) Bus to Surrthani - transfer to ferry 4) Mini-van + Ferry 5) Train - BKK-Surrathani, then ferry to Samui. (options 3 & 4 would be rather horrific).

Op... Have you been watching the Hangover II by any chance ????

Pacific Cross - cheaper than others, but other reports (on this forum) have reported they do not pay out so readily and can also increase their premiums the following year after paying out on a claim. Best and most reliable: BUPA and Cigna (if you want all singing all dancing). Otherwise - using a broker such as Pacific Prime to shop around, see whats available and select the level of cover vs premium is a good way to go. Wife and Son are with VUMI which has been decent enough (IDP only). Previously with April (they refused a claim which I don’t think they should have). BUPA were always excellent (and covered Wife’s Pregnancy and Birth of our son) Currently with Cigna, excellent cover, but its through work (which would be a 300k baht per year cover if taken directly).

Love these ‘wannabe anarchist warrior’ comments..... You’ll comply if you have to... just like you comply with everything else you may not like - from meeting immigration requirements to airport security checks and carry on regulations etc etc...

Agreed... Its obvious what you meant, its obvious that this was a minor typo.... ... Some people just want to ‘score the win’ rather than take on the discussion... either that, or they lack the smarts to recognise an obvious typo.... (many of us make them all the time, especially if or when typing on a phone).

In this case it was not the van drivers fault... the van was clipped by the over-taking Toyota driving extremely recklessly... That said: I agree with you about the safety of the school vans, we will not use them, but, in a country where most kids travel to school in the back of a modified truck what else can we expect ? ..... are there even seatbelts in many of them ???....

Where was it reported that was what happened here? In the Op... The Hyundai was the on-coming vehicle... That said - it looks like the road is one with two lanes in each direction, so overtaking itself may not be an issue... but overtaking so close and timing it so poorly obviously was - as ChrisY1 mentioned, lunatics... Any road in Thailand without a ‘central divide’ is utterly lethal and frightening...

Bringing things in through the airport green vs red lane is somewhat different than duty in shipped (posted) items.... Customs at the airport seem extremely relaxed - I’ve brought in loads of stuff from Bikes, to Skiis to Pushchairs, car seats etc... I’ve only had to put one bag through the x-ray machine once in over a decade. Customs via ‘post /shipping’ are also very relaxed, but do stop some items from time to time. As another poster mentioned, it depends on who is ‘shipping the items’.... DHL / FedEx are a sure way to get your item stopped / taxed. ---- I had some clothes ordered for my Son (from Next online) - About 1000 baht (if I recall correctly)... I was taxed something in the region of 600 baht (can’t remember)... but it was a large chunk of the item which ‘should’ have fallen below the tax threshold... We had to pay... > Slightly irritating but not a show-stopper, I’m still in ‘credit’ given the two bottles of Whisky I bring in each time I fly in !!!

Agreed.... it can... But with such frequency ?