richard_smith237

Agreed... we don't know if he was speeding, its just the headline. However, as the child was critically injured speed is most likely a factor. Firstly... stopping distance... But maybe there was no option to brake at all as the child ran out... So then it's down to simple impact speed and the chances of survival of an impact at that speed. With increased speed, there is a higher probability of death. As this incident resulted in a death, its likely the car was travelling a speed which exceeded what we (in the west) would accept as safe bounds. With all of the hazards around (as you described) the vehicle should be travelling more slowly, rather than blaming any distraction on those hazards. This is not like a child running out onto main road or highway - its a fairly quiet rural street - the car was going too fast and didn't slow to any potential interpreted risk because he didn't interpret any risk at all... Why ? careless driver (through lack of driving education).

Price is for aftermarket rack including labour 7k baht seems to be a decent price to be fair. This could be one of those issues when taking a step by step approach with cheap fixes turns out to be a waste of time and more costly. It's difficult with mechanical stuff in cars... Just last year the mechanic (Mazda Suk 65) saw 'dried water marking' on a radiator hose (which could have been from a minor leak or puddle splash etc). The repair quote was excessive IMO... the mechanic told the Wife that the car was dangerous to drive in its current condition (which was utter BS).... I told the wife to ignore him (we'll use a different garage in future) - if there is a problem with the coolant, modern cars have alarms and we'll see the water temp rise (there was no such thing). We went to a different garage... (Mazda - Ramintra), later on for a new windscreen, we also told the mechanics who were very honest and pointed out the other mechanics at the other dealer were full of it. Thus: Second opinions are always good to get. It's good to have a basic understanding to tell if the Mechanics are BS'ing or not... and Trust your instinct, if the Mechanic is honest or not. In the example you have given it seems the mechanics are being helpful and honest.

I don't think he needs your advise! What do you think the purpose of the Op is, if he isn't looking for advice. OP... In all major international hospitals in Bangkok all the nurses speak some English. Some very well, others enough to get by with the basics. A language barrier will not be a concern at all.

How will he understand what they say back to him??? ???? The staff at Samitivej, nurses included will all speak English - he has no worries from that perspective. In choosing one of the best hospitails in Thailand, the Op will be in very good hands and will be made comfortable. Answering what to expect is a difficult one because we do not know the Ops procedure. What I an offer is that the room will be private, comfortable, with a private bathroom etc. Nurses will be in to check on him regularly and respond to the 'call button' quickly. There will also be a sofa in the room on which a guest can stay (for free), if the Op wants a guest to assist. Food is reasonable, but he can also order food from outside if he so wishes. The room also has (instant) coffee and tea making facilities. The room will have TV with a number of international channels. The room will have Fast Wifi internet - the Op can watch Netflix, chat on this forum etc... The treatment from Dr's will be professional and they will communicate well. The specific details of the treatment aside, the Op will come out of this having had a favourable experiences (as favourable as hosiptial experiences an be anyway). Upon departure, payment is slow, so get them to get ahead of the game, otherwise the Op could be waiting hours to check out on departure day (very frustrating).

At prices like this it won't be long at all before someone starts a racket of 'paper marriages' to poor Thai girls so the guy can get his Non-Imm O Visa and extension. Perhaps this has long been running which is why Immigration check the marital residence of some visa / extension applicants.

Indeed... Its amazing what health benefits not being locked up for your crimes can offer...

Agreed.... Something as simple as attempting to navigate the nations streets with a child and pushchair highlights exactly how negligent Thai authorities are to the mobility requirements of many with mobility difficulties.

Anyone driving with any sense of responsibility and awareness knows when they hit a drain cover. Any debate of whether or not the pick-up driver know's he hit a child highlights such degree of in-attention to the task at hand [driving] that there is an an element of criminal negligence.

I guess you missed this part: Seeing his father, the young boy tried to cross the road and was hit by the speeding pickup. The child was still left unattended in a position where they can run out into a road. There was a failure in supervision from the primary career in that situation. The father's failure in his duty of care was also a contributing factor in this child's tragic demise. Of course, the speeding pickup driver is also obviously to blame. What we have here, as with most similar incidents in Thailand is a 'dual failure'... had either party not 'failed' in their responsibilities, this tragic event would not have occurred.

And they'd be a lot happier if they didn't have to live so cheaply... !!!!!

Seems you are mistaken. as i said, times are hard, if the place was thriving or upscale i am pretty sure they would be asked to leave and this convo wouldn't be happening Or, if the staff were attentive they'd handle the situation professionally and politely remind the group that no food is to be consumed from outside and do their best to maintain relationships with existing return customers. Shouldn't that approach be the least we all expect from a business which serves the public ?

In the UK, we used to get all our milk and drinks delivered in Glass bottles which were 'washed and reused' (recycling).... Somehow we have devolved and are now putting all our plastics in a dedicated bin for recycling and no longer have anything glass delivered.... We've gone backwards. So yes... IF the deposit on the bottles was large enough they would be recycled conventionally. But then another company would come in and undercut eventually devaluing the recyclable material to its raw material worth after which point its a matter of nothing other than economics... Its easier cheaper to transport crushed cans from an island than bottles... I think the issue comes down to this simplicity. Of course, other issues need to be addressed, i.e. not littering in the first place, but that is an issue of education which is difficult in a country where such issues are not really part of general education in the first place.

To be fair - 7k baht for a replacement aftermarket hydraulic steering rack seems a good value if that is the price all in.. OR, is that just the price of the replacement rack and gaskets, seals, oil, labour etc are on top of that ?? Best to confirm that info first perhaps.

Who on earth is trolling and targeting Trans with 'sad / confused' emoji's when his comments are none other than helpful. Mods should be able to see who is repeatedly posting the negative emoji's to troll someone else. Looks like its one person who may have had a disagreement with him on a previous thread and is now being childish and stalking him.... I've had the same happen to me and have a very good idea of who it is, but ignore it... Mods, perhaps look into this pathetic behavior,

I see you've already started. Love these sorts of comments... ... speculation will undoubtedly start that Trump caused this... ... I see you've already started. ... not quite, I never said that Trump caused it, I just speculated that others will speculate that Trump caused this... YAWN... its still speculation... and in this case, as you [neeray] mentioned MH370, your comment is as good as speculation, even if you tried to word it to accuse imaginary others in the future.

I also disagree with this. It is the Ops business, a table of people came in to the cafe and negatively disturbed his experience - that directly impacts him. - Why should the Op ignore something that directly impacts him ? - If the were smoking inside, would you ignore it and just go elsewhere ? Taking stinky food into another establishment which sells food, opening it and then eating it is very poor form and the staff should have dealt with that sitaution there and then. The issue here as that people behaved poorly, the staff ignored it... and the Op decided to make a thread about it. The Op actually hasn't done anything wrong at all here... he didn't escalate a situation by getting involved etc where as others may well have spoke up and got involved in an argument. The op is getting attacked by people with some rather poorly thought out and stupid arguments.

No one has mentioned anything about an adult attacking a child. That was your misunderstanding of Frits' comment. Now that mistake has been highlighted to you, why are you still insisting on continuing with your misunderstanding?... thats just stupid and you have better points to make than this pathetic cheap-shot. Fair enough, but you have returned a backhand beyond the baseline and are still trying to win the point while insisting the ball is still in play - you made a mistake. Attack the flaws in Frits comment instead... i.e. split second peck on the lips is not sexual harassment... this was not a sexualised action, it was one of celebration, euphoria and positive emotions. The video clearly shows she wasn't thinking 'WFT happened there'... the video shows she was laughing about it... along with everyone else... until the media got involved and poisoned the whole situation.

One comment suggest she'll (GF) be off with another foreigner soon. Another advises not to defer decisions reminding the op that he'll die soon. Another suggest she (the GF) is better off without the op and replacing him will be easy. Nothing other than toxicity in any of those comments. Assume - thats all you have done there. Did you assume that the op needs medical care which cannot be provided here in Thailand ? No... you've allowed your negative bias to influence your thoughts and the project your negative hyperbolae. The Op made it clear that he had to make a decision with his head rather than follow his heart... that already sounds tough.

By no means am I suggesting what the uncle did was right. However, his actions were in response to this boy bullying his son - I wonder how long the bullying was going on for before the father (uncle) snapped. There are two sides to this story and as a father I can understand the actions to put so much fear into the boy that he never so much as lays a finger on his son again. Barbaric? yes. Necessary? thats difficult to tell. What we can be quite sure of is that boy will never bully his son again.

Given the current numbers of EV's on the road. Now, is the charging network superb enough for mass adoption ? - that was the point made. Are you sure your EV's don't have Cobalt in their batteries ??.. Cobalt is an essential part of lithium-ion batteries and give them their range and durability. It is highly likely the battery in your E.V. contains... - lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), - lithium manganese oxide (LMO), - lithium iron phosphate (LFP), - lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxide (NCA) - lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) The mining for these heavy metals for batteries is most definitely not environmentally friendly. The transport and processing of these metals for batteries is most definitely not environmentally friendly. An E.V. has a higher carbon footprint than an I.C.E. when it rolls off the production line, primarily because of the batteries - it takes approximately 6-8 years (depending on use) for the average E.V. to break even with the average I.C.E vehicle from a carbon foot print perspective. At zero miles an E.V. has a far higher carbon-footprint than an I.C.E. Thats not to suggest E.V.s are no good, they are excellent and help significantly with air-quality in areas of high population density and vehicle use. But, people are pulling the wool over their own eyes if they think an E.V. is 'cleaner' than an I.C.E. - when considering the full lifespan of a car (from manufacture to disposal) they are not and they wont be. As much as I like E.V's I can't help but consider we should have gone the carbon capture route. What I dislike about E.V's is not the vehicle itself, but the owners making ridiculously polished claims that conveniently ignore absolute facts... i.e. your E.V. battery has about... - 8 kilograms of lithium - 14 kilograms of cobalt - 20 kilograms of manganese

I also disagree with these comments which use phrases such as 'sexual harassment' and 'attack' etc... This was not sexual at all... and the implication made by the woke media attempting to inflame this situation weakens the genuine cases. Those jumping on the bandwagon are making equally flawed decisions - a brief peck, even if unwarranted is not sexual, neither is it an attack.

You chose to interpret the comment in a manner which gave you the best opportunity to return an attack on Frits rather than read exactly what he was trying to say. You ran off on a tangent clutching on to misunderstanding - You are usually better than that.

Indeed it is... particularly when age is married with the lack of medical care here at that age unless paying extortionate premiums for insurance. One of the things which may prevent me from living here well into old age is the absence of reasonably priced medical care - insurance premiums for the over 70's is huge. If someone has a secret, please let me know !!!... I wonder how closely the Op looked at brining his partner to the UK. OR, is he a realist and knows that her status may prevent such travel. Its an awful decision to have to make - leaving someone he cares about, I'm sure it was a significantly more difficult decision than some of the insulting and flippant comments suggest.

Wow..... a number of toxic responses... You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.

An utterly ineffective Police force whose only intention is to profit from the public rather than protect them combined with mentally absent parenting. If such issues were dealt with with the severity they deserve the penalties would be a lot more severe. Brother in Law was caught with Guns - one of them licensed (handgun) another two, pump action shot gun and rifle - He'd valet parked at a nightclub, retrieved something from the boot (trunk) and the valet (rightly) called the police after seeing the guns. Penalty: 10,000 baht fine & report to police station once per month for a year - that was is. The reasons for people not to carry weapons here is insignificant to the point those who do carry don't give a passing thought to legal consequences as there really aren't any.