Jonathan Swift

15 hours ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

Where does it say in either report that the Australian guy that tried to defuse the situation was drunk ??

Our esteemed commenter has psychic abilities

12 hours ago, AsianAtHeart said:

The very fact that a foreigner would be treated differently than a Thai for doing the same thing speaks volumes.  No wonder they traded places.

It's possible he had a lot to hide - perhaps past DUI convictions, visa or immigration issues, license or insurance issues, car registration issues, maybe killed a policeman while driving drunk. So it might be that he gets treated differently because he deserves to legally, not because he's a poor discriminated against farang. Did he not just break the law by switching places? That speaks volumes about his respect for the law. 

13 hours ago, smedly said:

I think I am getting it after all these years 

 

they simply have no clue what corruption actually is 

Fish are not aware of the water in which they swim

Without addressing the issue of fixed rate cabbies not using their meters in the outer areas such as Pattaya, Phuket, The islands, etc., this story is not particularly useful. I'm not an expert, but it seems that the local provincial governments have to be on board with this in order to really affect the problem with tourists being overcharged

13 hours ago, arithai12 said:

There are times when the refusal is justified. Especially in a megacity like Bangkok at strange hours with very far destinations that will make the driver waste gas and time with an empty return trip.

If they want to enforce no-refusals, then they should revise the fare system and the number of licences.

There are also times when the refusal is justified on the basis of the customer being unruly or perceived as a threat or having oversized baggage and so on.

So.... it requires a little more than just asking the public to report, in the era of social media some people tend to make a fuss over nothing.

Remember it's also an era when people make a fuss over SOMETHING. It's up to the police to decide what to do with the information, but they still deserve to be sent that information

14 hours ago, ezzra said:

To be fair, in all my times of using cabs in BKK i have found most if not all cabbies doing their job properly and with courtesy...

Agreed. 

2 hours ago, AsianAtHeart said:

Checking for leaks is the wrong solution.

 

The real solution is to require the installation of proper GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter) breakers at EVERY public facility.  These breakers essentially cut power to the circuit if any leakage is detected, and they operate all the time.  A high-quality GFCI breaker will cut the power in under 40 milliseconds if as little as 5 milliamps of variance (leakage) in the voltage potential is detected.

 

Some electrical safety measures were discussed here a couple of years ago in THIS THREAD.

Change is slow here. Hope nobody dies before GFCI can be universally implemented. That technology has been in the US for many decades now

"various hazards particularly electric shock as happened to some students on Friday," Correct. Electric shock, not electrocution. No one died,  no electrocution. ELECTRO-EXECUTION! English grammar class dismissed. 

For a non O retirement visa The re-entry permit is a separate thing from the visa itself. The visa will be single entry unless you purchase a multiple entry permit at the time you renew/extend. I do this every year. 

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

unusual for an American to commit suicide ....  it just don't add up imo.   was someone else with him?  was there foul play ... ?  I hope i'm wrong but just seems strange. 

I don't know if you mean just in Thailand, but plenty of Americans commit suicide in and out of the US, the statistics are not that different overall. But not knowing what the scene looked like, people can lose their balance and fall, happens all the time. 

2 hours ago, Iamfalang said:

I think you mean it's unusual for an American to commit suicide in Thailand.  One, America isn't that close, so less tourists, and yes, it seems like a far trip just to jump to your death.  Another probably...............Americans in Thailand have more money than blokes and mates, but it's because less Americans retire here.   All pure TVF speculation.  

 

I just think it's unusual to think jumping from a building is a good way to die.

 

1000000 pills maybe.     Or perhaps grab a bag and explore some crazy parts of the world until the crazy catches up with you.  

 

 

I think you're right about the statistics. I'm American and I don't see that many other Americans. Don't care that much for most of them, that's one reason I'm here. I'm not one of the well off ones either. But people who are suicidal are not in a state of mind where they're going to rationally think out the best means to die. It's more like what's easy than what's good. But the impact of that kind of fall is going to be instant and painless if messy for others to clean up. 

16 hours ago, RandiRona said:

 

So many Falangs falling ...I am sure all coincidences!!

People die from falling off cliffs, balconies, buildings, train platforms all the time everywhere in the world. All it takes is a moment of carelessness or momentarily losing one's balance combined with an already unsafe situation. Since foreigners are less likely to be fully aware of the risks of Thai "architecture" it is more likely to happen to them by that fact alone. But enjoy your conjured up drama if you must. 

14 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Were they electrocuted or did they receive electric shocks? 

There you have it. When this term is misused in a news story it muddies the topic. Basically it is the more ignorant and less literate that depart from the original and most common definition of electro-execute. If a term is misused often enough and for long enough its misused form gets adopted into common useage and acquires a secondary definition, however improper. Most dictionaries define electrocute  as death by electric shock, some allow it as a description of death or serious injury by shock. No dictionaries show it as a proper term for non life threatening shock.

11 hours ago, transam said:

I did, until you Googled it....????

Because the term was coined specifically to describe the first electric chair executions, and is literally derived from electro-execute. Most dictionaries adhere to this strict definition, when it is used to describe casual or non serious injury from shock it is considered to not be a proper use of the term. 

No one was electrocuted. Yes the term is often used and misused to refer to anyone who gets an electric shock, but Most dictionaries adhere to the strict definition of death by electric shock. When it is used to describe casual or non serious injury from shock it is considered to not be a proper use of the term. Electrocute comes from "to execute by electricity,  electro-execute" and the term was coined when the electric chair first began as a means of execution. Electrocute literally means killed by electricity. Nobody died here. These people were shocked and injured by electricity. Serious injury from electric shock is sometimes considered electrocution. It doesn't appear that anyone was seriously injured.  But that is not a fully proper and literal meaning of the word. When a word is misused often enough and for long enough it picks up a new secondary meaning due to common use. That's why we have dictionaries. 

1 minute ago, wombat said:

They should have made that figure 10 million dollars.

oopsie. Instead, they get about $275,000. No math whizzes in government  I guess. 

On 9/6/2022 at 2:57 AM, 2baht said:

Well, just what is the vibe on Walking Street? ????

The vibe is you don't do this unless you know it's a working girl and that it's OK. The vibe is that there are hundreds of ordinary people and tourists walking around just taking in the sights who do not deserve to be degraded or sexually assaulted by folks like you. How is it you're not smart enough to know this?