SbuxPlease

The gov't is pretty GD lucky for the strong wind today because most people won't realize the free transportation has no affect on the amount of pollutants in the air. IMO the government should be doing all the things at the same time however. Educate these farmers who still don't seem to understand or have alternatives to burning. Get average city workers out of single occupancy cars in BKK and into the trains and buses, then make the trains and buses work better. The VAT impact of 40%+ more people coming in to the center of the city very possibly pays the whole bill. This is a no brainer!

Seems like things went sour with the business relationship and he tried to get out in a sneaky way. Who knows, maybe he's playing nasty because she is too, or maybe he's just a fraudster. How could we ever know? Perhaps look at who the initial investment came from. I've heard of cases where a foreigner who could prove to the court that all the funds are from him should be returned to him when the land sells. Courts aren't totally unreasonable in Thailand.

cops on motorcycles authorized to give immediate 1000 baht tickets to anybody who parks and blocks the left lane except in the middle of the night Speed limit the busses to 35km/h so they stop weaving in and out of the traffic. non stop enforcement at zebra crossings

Why aren't the major roads arranged something like this Sidewalks | Biking line one direction | Small lane for motorcycles and push carts | Busses/Cars | Cars When there is a U turn, install 200-500 meters of hard lane dividers to prevent cutting in line at the last moment. These aren't new problems and other cities have solved them or made progress long ago. It's time to try stuff and keep what works / get rid of what doesn't work.

There is a big difference in conditions between the sois (smaller roads) and the big roads (like Sukhumvit, Petchaburi, Rama IV, etc). These days the sidewalk condition on the major roads is better than it used to be and a lot of the obstacles (like old phone booths and random utility poles) have been removed. But there are still too many cases where it's still easier to ride on the side of the road, and the busses and ignorant vehicles are a danger. This is an area where bicycle lanes would help keep cyclists safe. On the sois, there is usually way less traffic and everything goes.

I don't understand the negativity about biking in Bangkok. It's actually a fairly pleasant experience - there are bicycle lanes in some areas and where there are none, it is permitted on the sidewalks. Typically pedestrians and bicycles co-exist already without a lot of difficulty. 1) folding bicycles allowed on the trains 2) most sidewalks can accommodate and where they can't, it's possible to walk the bike past the area 3) pedestrians know how to keep out of the way (i.e. the movement of bikes is predictable to people who are walking) 4) the speed isn't so high as to be particularly dangerous (relative to motorcycles on the sidewalks)

Recently stayed in a hotel that asked for 500 baht for 1 extra pillow. Instead, I went to Lotus and bought one for 350, and then left the hotel a scathing review. Nobody from the hotel replied to my review. Figures.

Feel like I see this kind of riding almost every time I'm on the road - locals, foreigners, it doesn't matter - too many drivers act invincible. I wonder what a bit of traffic enforcement would do to this country. Put policemen out there with body cams, issue tickets for even the small violations, reform the system so that unpaid tickets result in denied insurance renewals and licenses, and watch the road problems slowly begin to evaporate. People break all the rules because they will get away with it every time

Aside from all the harping on the word "mafia", I have noticed a phenomenon where some obnoxious guys will descend on an area and largely annoy the locals -Watch sellers -Beggars that stand at your table to demand money -Fruit trucks with loud speakers -TukTuks and Taxis who park all over the area and have no taxi meter calling out to you -Temple beggars with huge drum and cymbol sets banging their way up the street I dunno, all these people exist to separate people who are otherwise having a nice meal outside from their money by acting in the most obnoxious way possible.

There's at least one bureaucrat somewhere in immigration having an existential crisis about his precious TM6

I guess... c’est la vie. If the average Thai family isn't too worried in the first place, that more than explains the current state of affairs. We do spend a awful amount of resources and emotion in the west trying to preserve life.

Every now an then (evidently 26,930 times in the past 10 years), regular Thai families get a swift yet life altering punch to the gut to remind them that their regulators aren't regulating. I wonder if someday they will have had enough.

Oh my. What a tragic and horrifying event that almost certainly could have been prevented somehow.

I think humans have, unfortunately, been doing this since nearly the beginning of time in all cultures. It's a highly regrettably dysfunction of our species.

Wait a moment... the visa agent was going to get this man a work permit, but she herself didn't have a work permit? Whoops.