richard_smith237

And the sheer number of motorcyclists many of whom are not wearing helmets. 75% of road fatalities in Thailand are motorcyclists. Thus: IF Thailand had a better handle on training and education of motorcyclists inroads could be made. The US has it right with driver education in schools. In our schools we are taught so many different subjects, yet key life skills are not taught. Subjects such water safety, life saving and first aid skills are not taught. Pretty much everyone will grow up to drive a car or ride a motorcycle... Adding road safety to a national syllabus could make a significant benefit to Thailands road safety stats, but not only Thailand else where in many of our home countries too. IF helmet laws were taken seriously (as seriously as the mask regulations !) and were effectively policed, the stats would be brought down significantly. As an estimate I would guess that at least 1/3rd of motorcycle accidents result in avoidable death simply through the lack of wearing proper-helmet (not a plastic big-c jobby which should be banned). Ultimately until road safety is taken seriously by those in positions of decision making and policy impacting power nothing will be done... And by 'policy impacting power’, I mean the power to impact policy within police forces forcing them to effectively police their road using population. When was the last time we saw a police bike or car pull over a motorcyclist for not wearing a helmet, jumping a light, riding dangerously etc etc... (not road blocks).... Perhaps ultimately, those in positions of power don’t care because those at greatest risk are those poor feckless souls occupying the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder - a sad blight on the mindset of the nation.

There is something odd about the way they work out the score. On that list alone there are 17 countries with a higher road fatality numbers (per 100,000 people) than the USA. On that list there are also only 3 other countries with fewer road fatality numbers (per 100,000 people) than the UK which according to the list comes in at 24th safest country. The weighting given to other facets of road safety clearly alters generates a misleading result as far as the USA, UK and other countries are concerned. That said, on the list provided, Thailand does have the highest number of road fatalities (per 100,000 people) which remains a damning stat for anyone in a position of decision making and policy impacting power who actually cares. This map shows the road fatalities per 100,000 people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

What history or recent news has there been of women being trafficked to the UK under false pretences ??? Where as there is news of women being duped into travelling to the middle east under false pretences.

I would agree.. but not everyone carries the same degree of discretion and some people are just outright selfish or so stupid they are unaware of the risks they place others in. For example, those who may park on or close to a pedestrian crossing, or a junction etc.... While you may exercise intelligent discretion, others will not, the rules exist to protect other because of the most selfish, stupid, inconsiderate and dangerous lowest common denominator. That said: Yes, in the UK parking rules are a money making scam - The build shopping centres, want people to go there, then charge them for parking !!!.. its ridiculous. They charge people parking at hospitals which is outrageous.... So, I do like and in most cases prefer the ‘Thailand approach’... but its certainly not perfect and with the anything goes approach there are many negatives....

I think I caught a quick glimpse of Glenlivet Founders reserve there... IMO, the best whisky for the price available in Thailand right now... .... try The Master Distillers reserve... Its right up there...... (I always get a couple from Duty Free, not sure how much it is or if its available in Thailand).

Furby.... Cock-blocking pensioners in a bar nearby !!!.... ????

I agree about the parking rules and profiteering from car owners in the UK... its ridiculous... However, the personal freedoms thing comes with consequences. I know its not always the same and each situation is individual and must be judged based on description and individual merit... these ‘high standards of personal freedoms’ have consequences which you may not be able to foresee which is why there are ’standard laws’ in place.... My Thai friends grandmother was killed in a house fire, the fire engines couldn’t get to the house because of poor parking on the soi. I see women with children having to walk on the road to go around cars whose drivers exercise their ‘personal freedom’ to park where they wanted. Motorcyclists exercise their personal freedoms and ride down the pavement (sidewalk). Drivers exercise their personal freedom when choosing to drive home after a few too many. There are lots of personal freedoms... and parking is at the light end of the spectrum which seems to matter little, yet there are still consequences... i.e. those who park at the corner of a junction, it may not seem a big deal, but that in itself can lead to an accident. In this case... Maybe parking on both sides of the road narrows the road for the passing cars such that they are forced to pass in closer proximity, risking an accident etc. Along with many, I like the freedom and lack of restrains we have in Thailand, however, description varies and this leads to the chaos of people doing what they want when they want, such as stopping on the road, abandoning the car and nipping out to 7-11... antisocial if you ask me and people do it all the time... why ?... they’re exercising their personal freedom....

Maybe someone fed GammaGlobulin after midnight..... I just hope he avoids water or we’ll be inundated with tosh !!!!!....

It took Qatar Airlines 5 months to refund me for a flight which was cancelled.... By EU Law they should be paying out within 7 days. I ended up making a claim through IATA

If she has the education, is the right age and height etc... and actually submitted a job application to a valid Emirates Airlines Application page it may be a valid offer. Note, its unlikey she has been ‘offered a job’ as a flight attendant - IF she has a valid offer its attend a cabin-crew course after which they may be offered a job (some fail). No upfront payments and everything should be clear, professional and above board. Most importantly - the e-mail address from which the offer was received should leave very little doubt as to the validity of the offer.

The limit is individual and can be changed. The limits can be altered on the Mobile Banking App (if you have it).

There is no law that says this. Its is a common myth perpetuated by dodgy BiB some 15-20 years ago who chanced their luck pulling over motorcyclists who were riding down Sukhumvit in BKK in the muddle and right hand lane. Law says on a multilane road all traffic must stay left unless passing another vehicle. This law is clearly superseded by queueing city traffic where motorcyclist can ‘split lanes’ to pass queued traffic. --------- The 500 baht fine is almost treated like an Admin charge by the BiB. Whenever a person is involved in an accident, fault or not at fault they automatically get charged this 500 baht. Really, when not at fault they should not be charged this fine, but the BiB try it on with everyone - entitlement has settled in as the BiB don’t actually know the law themselves, they’ve learned from their peers and supervisors who levied the same fine. Its become the norm and after an accident people just want the issue to be over with as quickly as possible and get on with things.

Because the police are simply too lazy to work out what happened. Its clear the Grab guy is 100% innocent - charing him anything was outrageous, he should be compensated for damage to his bike, for any medical bills and any loss of earnings due to being unable to work etc. Who pays for the damage to the BMW ???.... IF the BMW driver makes a claim on his own insurance he will lose a no-claims bonus, why should he/she be penalised ?

The exclusions insurance companies apply for non-symptomatic issues is often ridiculous... I often wonder if I had a broken leg would they exclude me from cover for further broken legs !!!...

.... The village where all the village idiots go to from villages who are missing their village idiot is missing its village idiot !!!! ... but its ok, he’s been found on Koh Chang with a girl that loves him long time !

They exist everywhere and are for wheelchair access and similar. These are not for wheel-chair access...

Ultimately, to allow the convenience of being permitted to live together. For both of us... It was obvious we were going to get married at some point, we married after 2 years just to make life easier for us. My Wife is from Bangkok and lived at home with her parents (Wife was 31 when we met - 3 yrs age gap). In a traditional culture there is no way my Wife was ever going to be permitted to live with me or travel together unless we were married. Before marriage, whenever we went out she had to be home by midnight. We did holiday together etc and sometimes she stayed over, this involved the ‘white lie’ to her parents that she was staying at one of her females friends places. I’m sure her parents knew was was going on, so prolonging this sort of lie was becoming disrespectful. We got married so we could live together and spend more time with each other, we’ve been married 12 years. My In-laws are proud grandparents and visit weekly and often stay over. Would I get married again ? - thats obviously something I can’t imagine.

Then a hypocrite I am... passing bitter judgement on those who pass bitter judgement !!!

It is a Thailand issued Identification card for people of non-Thai nationality...

Next in news.. Dog pays for British Tourist’s medical bills after causing accident.... and add to boot, British Tourist was not double charged !!!... ????

Its just so very droll..... whenever there is an article concerning anything to do with beauty, there are always posters who spout the same pathetic twaddle... - Not my cup of tea - Too much plastic - Bleached pasty white skin - Looks like a ladyboy - Seen better down Soi 6 (Pattaya) - Not representative of a real Thai - Give me farm girl any-day ... yadda yadda yadda... when the reality is those making such comments have so little game they stand no chance whatsoever with such females and are forced to continue scraping the barrel... they’ve become brainwashed into thinking ’it is their choice' to become attracted to the females the rest of society ignores when in reality, they’ve just become used to it because thats all there is for them... They make themselves feel better by passing bitter judgement on those they know are higher up the socio-economic food-chain who’d never ’need’ them to ’take care me’ !!!!...

I repeat, as you appear to not understand what I wrote - it has nothing to do with saving a couple of hundred baht. And... neither does hiring a maid have anything to do with not being able to look after yourself. It's simply paying someone else a very affordable wage to do some work (washing, Laundry, Ironing, cooking) that the Op would prefer not to do himself and thus give him more time to do the things he does enjoy.... It [having a maid] is not a tough concept, its one many have warmed to in Thailand... except and your friends it seems. I also pay people to paint my house etc not because I can’t, but because there are other things I’d rather spend my time doing.

Maybe he has more disposable income than you? I think he’s simply decided to attack the Op and is sticking to his opinion without realising how exaggerated and flawed is comments are.....

Either a basic level of comprehension eludes you, or you’re either being deliberately obtuse. There is a difference between.... ‘unable to do’ ... and ‘prefer not to do’.... Its about standard of living... My Wife and I don’t want to do out own house cleaning etc... so we hire someone else to do it... Simple. I don’t want to wash my own car, so I pay someone else to do it. And this one’s a shocker.... We regularly go out for meals.... and its not because my Wife and I can’t cook for ourselves !!!!

Why close the thread... This is comedy gold !!!.... Unfortunately for you, in a laugh at, rather than laugh with manner...