greenmonkey

4 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Pickups are bad but I’ve found the worst for causing accidents to be female motorcyclists wandering across the road without looking. Oftentimes cannot turn head or look in the mirror. Mind boggling. 

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

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!!!

1 hour ago, Fore Man said:

I have to relate an experience I underwent a few years ago outside of Chiang Mai. I was driving my Fortuner along a country two-lane highway, directly into a blinding sunset.  About 400 meters before making a left turn into our subdivision’s prominent side gate, I flipped on my turn signal.  Immediately after doing so, I quickly passed by a motorcyclist carrying a passenger on his pillion seat, riding on the shoulder, seemingly oblivious to anyone else out there. A glance in my rear view mirror told me that I had enough time to make my turn before the biker caught up to me. But I was wrong and he smashed into my left front fascia before I’d completed my maneuver, completely failing to take notice of my advanced signaling. His bike was badly damaged plus his passenger suffered a broken leg. 
 

My first thought was, why didn’t he heed my turn signal and rear brake lights, as I’d given him ample time to prepare to either slow down or pass me on my right side?  When the police investigated at the scene, they explained that it was I who violated the law…that all motorcyclists and bicyclists are entitled to an unimpeded right of way when riding on the shoulder…which is considered under Thai traffic law to be a special bike lane, even though it is unmarked as such.  They went on to say that all other vehicular traffic must yield to any two-wheeled vehicles that could be jeopardized by such a turning maneuver.  
 

This was all news to me.  I’d lived in Thailand and in that same Chiang Mai area for 15 years at that point and this came as a total shock…that we must yield to any motorcycles driving on the shoulder. In the end we settled out of court, paying him a pittance of the outrageous amount he tried to extort from us. And indeed I learned a hard lesson. 
 

I realized that this incident probably would not have occurred if we weren’t both driving into a glaring setting sun, but I still found it hard to swallow that the motorcyclist had no culpability in causing the mishap and resolutely kept driving along the shoulder when I’d already indicated my intention to turn and began braking well beforehand.  Anybody with a shred of common sense would be expected to show some natural concern for self-preservation, but apparently this isn’t so in Thailand…where idiots can operate a motor vehicle without a shred of training, and likely with no accompanying license testing…nor with any common sense either.

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

58 minutes ago, EricTh said:

I see a lot of Thai people talking on the phone while riding their motorbike. Furthermore, they don't even wear helmets.

 

This is asking for disaster to happen. Isn't there basic education of road safety in Thailand?

 

How did they even get a driving licence in the first place?

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.

On 7/23/2022 at 1:07 PM, ubonjoe said:

It is not a normal requirement. Apparently something that somebody in charge at that office wants.

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

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.

On 12/13/2021 at 1:21 AM, Stargeezr said:

Dog problems again? Why are the stray soi dogs not taken care of by the government.

  The government could hire a dog catcher, and if the dog has an owner, it has to have a collar and

registered number on it. If not the dog gets put down, or killed off as it costs to feed these animals.

Most countries have modern policies to take care of this problem. A third world, or developing country

however has its many excuses, or reasons that it has to do things differently.

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! ????

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.

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!