peteregion

In a lot of places I've lived, the sea state in that picture would be considered a calm day. We swam anyway.

The prudent thing to do in a tourist area would be to post lifeguards to enforce the red flags. Not everyone will know what a red flag means, and not everyone will take them seriously, especially if you're on the holiday of a lifetime, the red flags are up the whole time you're there, and they're more of a "suggestion" than a rule- which seems to be the case.

Condolences to the guy's loved ones.

The prudent thing to do would be for the tour companies bringing the groups in, and the hotels they are staying in to pr[perly educate their customers about the dangers of swimming on Phuket's West coast during the SW monsoon season, including the meaning of red flags.

I think the Thai volunteers are doing their best with the level of training and expertise they have to warn people and to attempt rescue.

The Thais should not be expected to take responsibility and possibly risk their own lives for the actions of ignorant tourists, whether Chinese or Western.

Not sure about other hotels, but the one I went some times back (forgotten the name) had a board on a stand near the check in counter warning about going in to the sea as the wave was strong. But there are still some tourists ignoring it and went into the sea anyway. The hotel staff if not expected to keep an eye for everyone staying in the hotel. It is the guest responsibility too to take care of themselves.

Well looks like more good news for the tourism sector here.

Average tourist who is coming to Thailand will probably never hear of it, hardly a major disaster that's going to hit the world headlines is it ?

All you guys that predict the death of Thailand's tourism industry with every event that happens in Thailand, how many of you that live here are going to leave, how many of you that do not live here but come to Thailand for vacation, will stop coming because of a boat accident ?

Thought so....

I am employed by a large multinational organization. It has directives/policy on meetings and health and safety requirements. Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and some large districts of China meet the requirements. Thailand does not meet the requirements.

Thailand is a destination for low end conferences and sales events. It has not, and can not attract the high spending, high end financial institution, scientific, or high value leisure market. There is a reason why the high end conferences and conventions are in countries like Singapore and not Thailand. The facilities, the infrastructure, the security just isn't good enough

.

Thailand is the place for Chinese, Arab, Australian and Indian junkets. These visitors don't know the difference, don't care about safety and don't mind sleeping in pesticide contaminated rooms or swimming in sewage run off or transacting with jet ski & taxi thugs etc. The market for high profit, high quality tourism ignored Thailand long ago.

Nonsense. BS.

I used to work as a Senior Executive for Multinational Companies.

Go check this out:

http://www.businesseventsthailand.com/

Strange why foreigners even think of investing in Thailand, when clearly there is enough information out there.

1) Foreigners do not have any rights in Thailand.

2) In most cases foreigners are not even acknowledged by Thais or by the Thai system.

3) To Thais, foreigners are only ATM's on legs, nothing more.

4) Foreigners will never be accepted by Thais as equals.

5) There is no legal justice for foreigners.

6) Thailand is only for Thais.

Keep your money out of Thailand, only rent, then you will be fine.

If you don't understand the above, best not to even come.

1 yes they do but they don't know what they are or how to exercise them.

2. No, foreigners and western society is basically superior in many ways.

3. Depends who you mix with, in issaan they seem to think that. Handed down through generations.

4. Why do you want to be equal with a Thai or anyone, just be yourself.

5. Yes there is. I had a good lawyer..

6. Well that makes sense as it is their country. What do you expect..

"1 yes they do but they don't know what they are or how to exercise them" - what "rights" does a foreigner have here? I am talking about "rights" the same as a Thai citizen. I think you will find a foreigner must pay for any "services" here.

"2. No, foreigners and western society is basically superior in many ways." - yes, because we have a more developed society and economy, but that doesn't mean the Thai's recognise this fact.

"3. Depends who you mix with, in issaan they seem to think that. Handed down through generations." - Issan is in Thailand, is it not? Thai's from Issan are still Thai's.

"4. Why do you want to be equal with a Thai or anyone, just be yourself." - probably because "yourself" as a foreigner, will NEVER be accepted here. Thailand refuses to accept it's a multicultural society, whether they like it, or not.

"5. Yes there is. I had a good lawyer." - a lawyer was involved in the illegal company stucture that purchased this property, and a lawyer was also involved in the theft of this property. What does that say about lawyers, and the judicial system, in Thailand?

"6. Well that makes sense as it is their country. What do you expect." - well, why do they promote Thailand to tourists for a holiday, and to expats as a place to retire?

Which country gives all equal rights to foreigner same as their own citizen???

Davao had never been top 10.

Latest numbeo.com Crime Index Rate:

1 Kyoto, Japan

2 Osaka, Japan

3 Seoul, South Korea

4 Dresden, Germany

5 Singapore, Singapore

6 Tampere, Finland

7 Manama, Bahrain

8 Salzburg, Austria

9 Munich, Germany

10 Heidelberg, Germany

11 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

12 Bern, Switzerland

13 Coimbra, Portugal

14 Bergen, Norway

15 Oradea, Romania

16 Boise, ID, United States

17 Davao, Philippines

18 Taipei, Taiwan

19 Zurich, Switzerland

20 Doha, Qatar

In a survey released by crowd-sourced rating site Numbeo.com dated April 30, 2015, Davao City ranked 9th as the safest city in the world.^[9] In the following month, Davao City's rank moved up to the 5th spot^[10] and in June of 2015, Davao City now holds the 4th spot as the safest city in the world.^[11]

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Duterte}

I would consider retirement to the Phils, but too 3rd world and too much crime.

Farangs are targets there, more so than Thailand.

Plus a retirement visa is more costly.

it strongly depends where on the Philipinnes you reside. There are very many absolutely safe places for Westerners. Just to name a few - Bohol, Cebu, Boracay

Filipinos speak a fairly good english, and the internet is fast.

Retirement for 150-200 USD for a one-year Visa "expensive" ?? Compared to which country ?

I wasn't aware of a 200 per year visa?

Phils have a lot to offer and I would strongly consider living there as there are endless options.

Where do you get the USD150 to 200 from???

In addition to the Retirement Visa Deposit of up to USD50000, depending on age, there is the application fee.

Application Fee

Principal Applicants US$1,400

Dependent US$ 300 (each)

Annual Fee (PAF) US$ 360 (covers 3 family members)

* For more than 3 retiree members in a family, an additional PAF of US$100.00 for each additional dependent must be paid.

* Under the SRRV Courtesy/Expanded Courtesy, the PRA Annual Fee of US$360.00 is not applicable. However, in case of more than two dependents, US$10.00 for each dependent must be paid for the issuance of the PRA ID Card.

Only in thailand! Finding a way to charge you more. Incompetent bunch of losers

BS. We can see the High Quality Expat Thrash here.

Many airports charge Security fees and other fees.

The US September 11th Security Fee is collected from passengers by air carriers. The fee is currently $5.60 per one-way trip in air transportation that originates at an airport in the United States, except that the fee imposed per round trip shall not exceed $11.20.

The charges for Singapore Changi International airport incorporated in the air ticket:

Manila Departure fee - P550

Security Fee - P200

And ohhh, don't forget the long neck Karen village.

Hello All the Experts here.

This is not a case of whether YL made any money out of it. It is that she was negligent in her duty as a Prime Minister overseeing the scheme to let it deteriorate to such a big loss for the State.

There was already a precedent where a senior government official was held negligent and made to compensate the State for losses to the State.

Go read the case by the government of Thailand of Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra against Roengchai Marakanon, former head of the Bank of Thailand during the economic crisis of 1997, in a negligence liabilities of officials case where Roengchai was made to compensate the State.

Yep. They should investigate those involved in the purchase 2 years ago.

Not correct. A joint Bank Account holder is not by law the beneficiary. If there is a Will, the stated beneficiary is entitled to the deceased monies. It is very important to have a Thai Will if you have Thai assets, properties and financials. There are many complications if a Will is written in another jurisdiction as it may not apply.

I do have a Thai will - cost zero. BUT, the executor is the lawyer. This is where they can extract plenty.

As a precaution, my goal is to have assets in LOS consisting of cash only.

My Thai wife is now co-signatory.

Upon my departure, it is my understanding, in practical terms, that my wife can just withdraw the $$$.

Correct. A joint account will pass to your wife by succession.

It is unfortunate that immigration don't accept joint accounts (for extension purposes) as this would negate the need for a Will in most cases.

'I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.'

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Straits Times, 20 April 1987

I don't think we can compare Singapore with Thailand. Singapore is basically a Chinese society and majority of the citizens just listen to what the Government tells them to do. Though this is changing with the internet.

Paiboon does have a point. Nothing to gain for Thaksin as all the gains are skewed heavily on the side of the establishment and their military handyman. If 1997 was a people charter, this will be the establishment charter gift wrapped by the junta.

Well the 'people's charter' of 1997 (who worked on it by the way?) was improved in the 2007 version and a better approach to reforms would have been a further improvement on the 2007 version.

To call the new charter an 'establishment' version only seems to try to suggest something bad without feeling the need to explain.

BTW how does the 'establishment' version compare to the one you have in Singapore?

Is there any comparison of a constitution that was written in August 9 1965 and stood the test of time and acknowledged by global peers as successful democratic city state compare with the current junta draft which is taking away people ability to decide their leaders. And you need explanation. Time to change your bifocal, Rubi. By the way, every each time the constitution was shredded and re-written, it is always by the military following a coup. Suggest to me that the establishment and their military henchman just will not relinquish power to the people and this current draft is written with that in mind.

The National Guard of the United States is part of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces and when not under Federal control, the governor is the commander-in-chief of the units of his or her respective state or territory. Though it had not happen before, they can be use politically by the governor of the states. We never know tomorrow.

Go read this. Even in the US, there is Bail after sentence pending appeal.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-i-bail-while-i-appeal-conviction.html

In some countries, people also get killed in a Church, a temple or a Mosque so quit quoting religions. Christians do the same things, Muslims do the same things, Hindus do the same things.

At least I know many Farang Thrash here.....

Here we have another drivel from the Nation trying to explain democracy to the readership and throwing everything into the pot from moral and ethical issues and in that creating a view of democracy that is as thick as pea soup.

Democracy derives from two old Greek words ‘demo’ and ‘kratos’ meaning people and rule or power, giving the people the power to vote for the form of administration they aspire; that is the only rule required in a democracy, the right to vote freely for or against an administration.

Freedom of speech, laws that prevent corruption, the right to own properties are values we might want to see enshrined in laws but they are not the measure of a democracy. A government that is voted into office on the basis that it is going to abolish free speech and declares corruption a virtue is still a democratically elected government when elected by the majority of the voters in free elections.

Further definition about Democracy.

No consensus exists on how to define democracy, but legal equality, political freedom and rule of law have been identified as important characteristics.^[9][10] These principles are reflected in all eligible citizens being equal before the law and having equal access to legislative processes. For example, in a representative democracy, every vote has equal weight, no unreasonable restrictions can apply to anyone seeking to become a representative^{[according to whom?]}, and the freedom of its eligible citizens is secured by legitimised rights and liberties which are typically protected by a constitution.^[11][12]

Its not only in Thailand. Its happening in many of the countries I go, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore...

Probably parents are too busy these days and teachers are not allow to discipline students...

I had the opportunity to work with refugees before. They don't understand about sanitation, health and hygiene. They like to do what they are used to do in their village. Eating and feeding their children where they will sleep. They do not care about pest and rodents attracted by the food and the left overs. In fact some of the men will actually catch the rodent and cook them as meals.

The sad part is they expect you to give them what they want, where they want to go and do what they like doing. They do not appreciate the efforts and resources others has to provide for them. After a country had accepted them, they expected handouts. Many will not want to work hard to get a job. They blame the whole world for the situation they are in but does not want to improve themselves. This is the sad truth (and one of the hidden reason) why many countries does not want to take them. There are some hardworking ones and had make it. I had seen both.

Geriatrickid

'people in Ubon still live in fear of being detained without charge or access to legal counsel or a fair trial.'

My extended families in Ubon and their villages have a different thought from you. They feel more freedom now than previously because in the past, you are expected to support The Reds otherwise you are consider an outcast. Now unless you had been doing something wrong, you have more liberty to choose what you support or do.

MAS was suffering long before Tony Fernandes took over Air Asia. MAS was given to one of Dr M's crony when Dr M was still the PM of Malaysia. Millions were siphoned off and the airline nearly went bankrupt. After that, it never really recover.

I read that most of the staff reduction will be in the area of engineering and support as the new company MAS Berhad intends to outsource these services.Of course with the reduction in routes, there will be a similar reduction in flight crews.

Mr bheard, Mr T's power of the people is waning.

I had been here for more than 30 years. Many of the village people and my family people were ardent supporters of Mr T, from the beginning, especially supporting the TRT party including Mr Chamlong S. Many of them would agreed that Mr T was doing a good job in the economic of the country.

The support begins to wane when people knows the blatant abuse of power Mr T uses to enrich himself and his family. This is because people can access to better info now with the internet. Many that we know does not support him now but also acknowledges that there is no politician that is clean.

There is always the died hard on both sides. The difficult part is the percentage in the middle and how wide is this. How many percent changes is anybodies guess.