greenmonkey

Just yesterday I drove to collect my son from school about a 30 minute round trip. I experienced 3 motorcyclists driving head on towards my car (before swerving to avoid me) because they were either looking at their phone or looking elsewhere (apart from in front of them). Absolutely unbelievable how bad the drivers here are... the attention spans are just non existent!

...that's because they are usually using facebook on their phone!

ridiculous decision. 100% the fault of the soldier, should be made to pay fine and all the costs to the delivery driver. Not often I say it but this delivery guy seemed to be driving very sensibly... not sure what the police are thinking...

I don't agree with this at all, i don't see how you can punish someone who acted within the law in the country that they were in. It is ridiculous... but Thailand did act in a similar way prior to the legalizing (the case of the Dutch guy who was jailed and lost everything in Thailand for legally selling marijuana in the Netherlands springs to mind). Bearing in mind how the Thai justice system treated this Dutch guy will be interesting to see how they respond to the behavior of the Malaysian authorities.

no mention of the khao sarn tourist police threatening that tourist with jail and a fine for handing in a wallet they found in the street then!!!

now that does seem suspicious... not sure why that would cause him to veer off the road when the door is right by him. Maybe he was distracted by something else like his mobile phone? I wonder if the police will bother to check his phone usage... probably not. This driver should have played the safe card of 'lap noi' which everyone would have considered perfectly acceptable! Oh well, just another day in the LOS...

am i reading this right... that piece of flyover had not been cemented in (i.e. they were in the process of doing it whilst allowing all those cars to pass by underneath)!??? That seems crazy to me...

Interesting to know this law that motorcyclists have the right of way... it is an issue I have narrowly avoided once or twice in the past. OP did you do any digging to find out if it is actually the law or were the police just trying to pin this on you!? Would really like to get clarification on this as don't want to get caught out like the OP did.... can someone please confirm? TIA

I would hazard a guess at about 90% of Thai drivers (bikes and cars) that will use their phone and drive at the same time. It is just the norm here.

Sad but true and those parents that very irresponsibly allow their kids to ride bikes will be very quick to try and get some form of compensation from the other driver(s) involved.

Quel Surprise! Just another bigwig wanting to make his mark!

I went to Nonthaburi Immigration last week to extend my yearly visa based on marriage. Went fairly smoothly. Handed all my paperwork to the lady on the front desk in order to get my ticket for the queue. After going through the forms she handed back everything and said that there was a new format for submitting family photos (which is basically an A4 piece of paper with two allocated spaces for you to glue your pics onto and then write your name in full block capitals and sign by each and every photo). They will supply this form to you it just means that you need to move to one side and cut up all your photos up and then glue them on to the forms - a complete waste of time and very unnecessary but some bigwig obviously felt the need to further complicate things. Just wondered if this was standard in all other immigration centers or only being done at Nonthaburi?

I am looking to source standard loose black tea leaves (possibly assam black tea) within Thailand. I know that there are many plantations in the North, just wondered if anyone had a contact for a supplier/distributor/factory where I might be able to buy in bulk as cheap as possible? Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Many Thanks

i see this kind of driving everywhere, Thai's simply never ever anticipate any danger. It's crazy.

there is a photocopy service for 1 or 2 baht per page in case you need it. It is located outside the front of the building. I'm pretty sure you need a copy of the passport page that displays your ID but could be wrong.

I agree with your sentiment, however, the real reason why this is not done is down to Thais and their Buddhist beliefs. I guess that the average Thai would be horrified at the thought of soi dogs being rounded up and killed, however, it would be interesting to get their views on the subject.

yeah... the gps told him to drive into the river... nothing to do with the alcohol! ????

surely a shooting range has cctv... you would think!?

exactly! This is a very fishy story. Why on earth would a grown adult point a gun at their instructor and fire regardless of whether they thought it was loaded/unloaded/dummy bullet!??? Just crazy...

actually I found this funny at first but on reflection I'm pretty annoyed... why do these people bother to make such laws when they know with absolute certainty that they will be neither followed nor enforced. How can they stand there and publicly say this is the law without any embarrassment or people laughing in their faces!!! This clearly demonstrates the circus that is Thailand... Ridiculous absolutely ridiculous.... and yet here I am! ????

Now that is FUNNY!

why is it that the average Thai response to stuff happening on the road is to accelerate rather than brake!? I see it all the time. Crazy.

My God... I don't know what am I more surprised at.... the idiot dropping his phone and then reaching down to grab it... or the fact that for once the driver is admitting his error instead of using the traditional 'brake failure' or 'microsleep' excuse.

why are they asking candidates to pay 300 baht for the privilege of applying for a job!? Honestly... talk about 'Thailand only'

as bad as the work is you really should follow your wife's lead on this... I been here 10 years and still cannot get my head around the face saving thing... but your situation (i.e. the father in laws boss etc.) does sound like it needs to be treated very carefully. Good luck!