petercool

There used to be a few true gun shops in Chinatown in Bangkok way back when but I have never seen one in Pattaya. The legitimacy of a foreigner owning a gun has not been mentioned here but if you were thinking of buying one that should be looked into. The Utapao Naval Shooting Range has handguns that can be rented for use there and they should be able to tell you about ownership if that is what you wanted.

There is always some background to these things. The Colonel had been rewarded by his post for helping Red Shirts in Bangkok at some earlier point and politics at that level are brutal. That another faction was not happy he was there was to be expected so who knows whether the excuse of the gambling raid's ramifications are just that - an excuse to move him or to have another there in his place.

He did seem to a responsible and likeable man but us foreigners are never privy to the real issues and agendas.

I'm a drummer but a veteran one. Don't look my age but don't look young either

PM me if you want more info. I have a great kit and Turkish cymbals and what I can't play I can fake very well ....

OK, Then I suggest you ask members who they might have used in the past and who they would recommend.

I think a handy man like this need not be employed full time, just as and when you need him.

Even if a recommended guy is not free he might know someone else. They tend to know each other.

A lot depends on what you want to employ them for .... different groups would have different places to find them.

It was very different in Bangkok a few years ago when I lived there. I played for almost 20 years there - and for a while every night - without any hassles and without a work permit for that. Hotels, pubs and clubs there still have many places for foreigners to play either as fixed gigs or jam nights. Pattaya is OK if you stick to the clubs where a Thai band has the regular job and you sit in or if the place has some special permission in some way. Don't want to mention them as I don't want them on the "radar". I have done - as have others like Raro - a few charity concerts that seem to be OK for foreign players but each case is different. None of this stops anyone from forming a band, just relates to where you might be able to play publicly.

Get down to Leo's on a Friday or Saturday and meet some musicians. I'm a drummer myself but prefer jazz or funk.

Stray Soi dogs are a problem and while I totally understand the humane desire for some need to feed them, that only helps them breed and multiply and does not address the problem at all. Australia, in its dubious wisdom, decided not to allow any culling of their thousands of feral dogs and now packs of up to a hundred are making cattle farming a nightmare in some areas. By all means be charitable, but helping orphans, kids with special needs and other kids with disabilities is - in my mind - a better service to the community at large.

I knew a vendor that sold 1,200 pieces if stick-meat everyday.

Looking poor but laughing all the way to the bank.

A 10 hour day, that's 120 an hour / 2 a minute / 1 every 30 seconds.

Not impossible. Multiple sticks are grilled simultaneously.

Typical, just goes to show what motivates these people to become joking policemen.. Next time simply refuse to deal with them!

You can certainly try that but when working alongside Thai police they have the same rights to ask for your licence at these road checks and are delegated to do so where non-Thais are involved. What is saved in time or aggro by doing that ?

@cup-O-coffee. The escalation to Twitter may be ridiculous and over-reaction but somehow I find your posts to be over-reaction too - in the opposite direction.

It was a local incident and it was reported. What's ridiculous about that ?

I don't know anything about this case but once at court the fine could be up to 30k so there might not be much change anyway.

OK, he was a naughty boy but really, folks, this is hardly the crime of the century.

Indeed, but a crime nonetheless. Happens often too.

I know of a tourist who fondled a tour guide and was sent straight to holding cells by a police inspector who was not amused in any way by this. The lady wanted nothing but an apology which the guy refused to give. His bail was set at 300,000 but what happened later is unknown. Assuming that all Thai girls are available for anything gets lots of guys in trouble.

In 2008, police solved 35 percent of the homicides in Chicago, 22 percent in New Orleans and 21 percent in Detroit and indications are that the percentages that get solved is dropping further. Not sure about the UK but the point is that unsolved murders are not unique to Thailand but let's hope this one is solved. RIP.

The FTPA and FPV are two separate groups with separate responsibilities. When either are on official duty they do so under the authority of their respective Thai police department chiefs and their primary task is to assist Thai police deal with foreigners whether that be via translation from well over 20 languages to English (at least) and quite a few do speak Thai, or any other first-contact help they can give to advise on Thai police procedures to ensure issues are addressed more easily. Each has a formal Operations Manual that sets their role and conduct standards but that is not for dissemination to the public here or anywhere else. Like any group of 50 or so people from varied backgrounds, some are better than others at all this but generally Thai police are very happy to have this type of help and the limits to their authority when under Thai police supervision are few. Hope this helps.

There are a few issues to gun ownership. You need to show that you have the right business that you are protecting along with a few other things. Then there is the issue of what rights you have to shoot anyone who breaks into your house. The degree of danger to you or family members comes into play, the degree of threat from the intruder comes into play and under most circumstances everything is very difficult to prove so ....

Firstly, there are police on a variety of shifts 24 hours a day with Thai police volunteers augmenting their numbers. Those working outside of the station are on radio call. The number of your nearest police station or box should be sussed out by you. The issue of not getting an English speaker is akin to not getting a Thai speaker at a UK police station number. You can get a Thai to record on a small cassette player your address in as much detail as makes sense along with a message that explains it is a recording and that someone has broken into your house. Beyond that, there is little I can suggest.

He might have been from mainland China or Taiwan but this sort of gambling is rife in Malaysia and Singapore among their Chinese communities and equally frowned upon by authorities.

When will some foreigners learn ?

It's so easy to learn what the laws are.

And so easy for others to report them when they break those laws.

At an intersection that has no road signs or traffic lights, who has the right-of-way?

One of the roads would be classed as the "major" road and theoretically from either direction a vehicle in the "minor" road should give way. It is not always easy to know which is a "major" or "minor" road. In other situations giving way to the right is the rule. None of this is made aware to drivers however and thus the suggestion is to play it safe and look left then right etc.