scorecard

He doesn't need a lecture, it's obvious from his existing posts he regrets what he's done.

He said, many hours ago, the money aspect wasn't an issue.

Scot?

Well the most expensive flights can turn into a nightmare also - TG!

But operationally it can work. I flew AirAsia from Chiang Mai to Kuala Lumphur to Sydney in Nov 2019. I'm in a wheelchair. AirAsia supvr., walking around the departure lines at Chiang Mai spottted me with wheelchair, she quickly asked if I was checking-in for the KL flight, I confirmed and within 2 minutes she had 2 young assistants on the spot with the AirAsia w'chair (mine was packed up to be checkin-in). They got me comfortable quickly and then to a more distant check-in desk and check-in quickly completed. She realized my Thai son and his family (his wife and 3 kids) were with me, she asked if I wanted to wait or go straight onto the aircraft? There wasn't a lot f time to spare so I said 'go the the a'craft now please'. AA lady tasked one of the young attendants to get me onto the a'craft, all done smoothly and politely and with care for my comfort. At KLIA an attendant waiting at a'craft door to take me to the AA lounge, staff at lounge very caring and polite. Back onto a'craft, hosties politely checked several time if I needed a toilet break etc. All meals excellent. Just before arrival at Sydney International a polite hostie asked me to remain seated for a few minutes. Two young attendants slipped into the a'craft as soon as the door was open. They knew where I was seated, they came over and politely explained the procedure and checked what luggage etc., I had. Ten minutes later one girl returned to my seat to explain my chair was being unpacked just outside the a'craft door. All done smoothly and politely. As soon as 90+% of the passsengers had alighted they started to move me slowly to the a'craft door and then carefully into my w'chair. They exlained the procedure well; one girl would stay with me and the other girl would get quickly to the passport arrival desk and get my passport ready to be processed, then she went (with a phto of the luggae stickers on my boarding pass) to retrieve my 2 suitcases. On arrival at passport desks a border force official quickly noticed me (by my p'port photo) and came over to return my p'port and checked if the AA staff were taking care of me OK. I confirmed YES. As soon as we got about 15 meters past the p'port desk the second AA girl was waiting with my 2 cases. During all of this the girl who stayed with me had asked if I had relatives or a car service booked to meet me at the a'port. I gave her the name and tel. no of the car service. She called them and they advised the car was caught in traffic and it would be arrving at Inter airport arrivals in about 20 minutes. AA girls asked if I would like to get a quick coffee and a snack. I said yes and we all had coffee and a snack. Car arrived, AA girls got me into the car made sure I was comfortable. All done. The entire trip was pleasant and well organized; 10+/10. Sure things have changed since because of Covid- 19, however when it's all operating again smoothly I would have no hesitation to use AA for same/any trip.

Just a man wanting a holiday and he saved for his holiday. No need to criticize him, he's done nothing wrong. Critizize the ethics of the airline. They shoudn't take bookings/money then strand people, highly unethical/immoral.

Just flash 1 million Baht cash at the passport arrivals desk, in Bangkok and at any border entry points, you'll be fine. Maybe even get a nice fruit basket.

...tattooed...' Not enough information. Should have mentioned motor cyclist with one head 2 arms (and 10 fingers) and 2 legs (with 10 toes), at least...

Also, the fares they quote to prospective customers is often more than an air-conditioned metered taxi fare for the same journey.

The comments are more about the later situation and inspection/monitoring of what activity is taking place/is it being used as originally licensed/certified etc.

OK, but how much 'subtle' pressure was in the whole situation to push for agreement to take the ride and therefore revenue for the elephant own and the INFLUENCER / the tour guide?

Why not, that's their job and if they discover and don't tell then they are derelict in heir duties/responsibilities and should be punished.

My Thai son's house, plans clearly marked for a 3 phase connection in the kitchen (electric oven and 4 point electric cook top). House completed, development company 'inspector' signs that all items on the plan have been satisfactorily completed, electrics mentioned. Son buys package of kitchen appliances, seller sends 'qualified technician* to install all the appliances. *Turns out he is a Thai gualified elctrician. Technician tells son that the outlet in the kitchen (in fact all outlets in the kitchen) are basic wiring; there is no 3 phase. Son calls development company, office girl tell son 'oh that's not allowed in Thailand'. Son demands a meeting with a senior person from the development company. Now there's a list of excuses/reasons why 3 phase not fitted, but very little concern. Son demands an answer as to when 3 phase will be fiited and a guarantee that there will be no extra charges. Takes weeks and daily push from son to get it completed. Development company now claims that it's illegal to bring other technicians/electricians on site to confirm there is 3 phase and it has been installed correctly and safely. Son refuses to make final payment for the house and land and tells dev. company he has put the whole situation in the hands of his well known lawyer. Suddenly a call from snr. mngr. of the dev. company inviting son to quickly bring a licensed/qualified electrician on site and full cooperation for this person to check all the wiring. Small additional point, It's now discovered there's 2 power outlets fitted in other ooms that are not connected to any wiring. Word spreads, other owners now demanding further checks on the electrics fitted in their houses, and some work done to fix problems exposed.

There should be a process where these things are regularly checked by a variety of governmental agencies. Same as in many other countries. And in many there's automatic continuous matching of computer data held/being continuously built which highlights 'blips'.

Sweet smelling is always nice.

No we don't do safety devices, you think too much.

My reaction : I don't want to own any type of gun and I hope many PR holders / all foreigners living in Thailand have a similar opinion. But of course 'each to his own'. ______________________________________________________ For me the bottom line: I saw a lot of death, limbs shot off, severe dismemberment etc., during my time as a soldier in the war in Vietnam. I don't want to touch or see any type of weapon for the rest of my life. When I returned home my dad instantly announced he wanted to take me (just him and me) on a trip together for a few days in the countryside. 'We can have a great time shooting kangaroos and rabbits etc*.' and he then showed me that he had thoroughly cleaned his 2 shotguns and 2 rifles, ready for the trip. *Reality is he shocked me because this type of activity was way off his normal thinking and behaviors. He had never bought a weapon, all 4 mentioned above were given to him by elderly uncles, his grandfather etc., and basically never fired. Handling weapons and shooting anything was the absolute last thing I wanted to do on return from a war zone and for the rest of my life. In fact I was desperate to spend calm private time with my wife and baby daughter, I spoke further about this to my more astute mother and asked her to politely ask family members to not organize 'welcome home parties'. I told my mother to tell family members why and she did and shared that people were initially shocked 'but what about our party' but quickly understood what she had shared. What other Viet vets (and soldiers returning from any/all wars) desired when they returned home i don't know and of course it's their choice. Initially my dad was shocked and hurt that I rejected his plan of a 'shooting trip together' but within a few hours he said privately that he had given the whole subject more throught and he understood and wished that he had not planned the trip.'

It seems to me that many foreigners (incl Aussies) seem to quickly take on a new/different set of driving behaviors/standards as soon as they behind the wheel in Thailand. The reality is that all Aussies are well aware, because of driver training standards and practice, police monitoring of drivers and quick to pull up and charge all drivers behaving even a little outside of the laws and regulations. And fines/cancellation of license is savage. Driving when their license is cancelled get very severe punishments even jail. Cancellation of license for life happens. Also they know how difficult it is to pass the practical (driving) tests. They are totally aware of the rules of the road, and what constitutes suitable/accepable and unacceptable driving behaviors. But they come to Thailand and they instantly adopt a whole different appraoch and mindset. What a shame.

E.G: 1). Many members will recall there's been many break in at Army camps and many guns stolen over at least several decades. 2).The report here about 2 years back re an ex policeman who had sold 172 assorted handguns to teenagers in Pattaya in the preceeding 6 months. He had bought the handguns from various illegal sources, including 'sell/give me your handgun and i'll get the investigation your subject to dropped ...'. 3). I asked for a management consultant from the US with special economics analysis skills to join my team in Bkk for a week. He came, never been outside of the US before this assignment. He arrived at our office about 9:00 am on first day, as expected. Opened his brief case and put a handgun on the desk. Staff all stood back and called me. I asked "Why did you bring this handgun into the office?" He launched into a loud spiel about his handgun being confiscated when he boarded his aircraft in the US, and about "I have no intention of walking around anywhere / any country without a sidearm." I asked him where he got it, His response "I asked at the hotel lobby where I could quickly buy a handgun, the lobby staff didn't really understand 'handgun' so he quickly found a photo using his smartphone, then they suggested he go to Jatujuk market and ask there, he did that and 20 minutes later back in the taxi and back to his hotel with his purchase, no documents whatever. He didn't show the handgun to any hotel staff. I explained (had to insist) that he could not go our clients office ( a very big very profesional Thai company) with a handgun in his bag. He wanted to call his office in the US to demand they tell me it was all OK. I refused to engage in any such discussion and made it clear he had 2 choices 'lock the gun in our company safe or take the next flight back to the US.' He put it in our safe but he wasn't given the combination details. Late that afternoon I asked him 'what are you going to do with the handgun when you leave Thailand? He responded 'put it in my cabin bag'. I assured him he wouldn't get the gun through the security check before boarding which produced the typical 'nobody tells me what to do'. He then indicated he would put it in his check-in bag. But when he got back to the US he discovered the locks on his suitcase had been opened and the bag taped shut with many metres of duct tape and the gun had been removed. I have no details where the handgun was removed from his suitcase but I suspect it was removed at Bangkok airport.

And how would all this 'arrangement' play out if: - There's a more thorough investigation which openly highlighs that 'the wife did it' is not physically possible? - The corrupt cop suddenly wants a a big fat envelope to continue his 'support'? - The corrupt cop dies in a car accident or from sudden severe sickness etc? - ....

Power and his view of his entitlement.

Not sure how many members have experienced severe earth tremors, here's 2 examples from when I worked in Japan: 1). At very large oil refinery, sudden (no warning) shaking so severe that large steel 2 door office cabinets fell over, desks and small furniture skating backwards and forwards across the floor. Luckily the refinery equipment/piping was very well designed and not one leakage or disruption. 2). Staying in a top floor room (about F6) in hotel not far from Hiroshima, about 2:00 am sudden (no warning) shaking so severe that it threw me out of the bed and onto the floor. Five seconds later the phone rang, recorded message (Japanese and English): - "If you are unhurt please press button 1". - "if you are trapped press button 2, we will come quickly". - "If you don't press 1 or 2 we will come quickly". I pressed '1'. Immediately a recorded word in Japanese then in English 'unhurt confirmed'. However within a minute a very young staff member from the lobby (I guess the only person on duty who could speak English) unlocked the door and came in quickly and said very clearly in advanced English "Can you please confirm that you are not hurt?" I confirmed 'Yes I'm not hurt (but I was struggling to get some clothes on - sleeping naked), then he said, "the tremor has passed, from previous history it's unlikely there will be any further tremors right away", then he said "The hotel is basically undamaged, you are welcome to stay here and go back to sleep but if you would prefer to go outside and have some hot coffee then come back here I will escort you outside. Whhat would you like to do?". The staff at my work place nearby had given me a briefing re this situation with a suggestion to go back to sleep, which I did. Breakfast process the next morning all worked to clockwork. Young man from earlier that morning came and said hello and asked if I was all OK. Then a quick conversation, turned out he completed all of High school in New Zealand then did his bachelor degree in chemical process engineering in Australia, over 10 years exposure to English. I mentioned that I was working on a project at a close by refinery. He asked if he could visit the refinery one day. I spoke to the Japanese refinery manager same day and mentioned the young man's education/degree, he interviewed the boy next day, the next Monday he started work as an enginering/management trainee. When he started work he had no work experience at all but his subject knowledge and his ability to analyse and define situations was excellent, and he was very polite and humble, and he impressed everybody.

Well many agencies would suggest to sleep outside after an earthquake, but sleeping under the bridge would be good to protect against rain.

"I also make a point of never taking the missis along when dealing with the bank, I noticed a long time ago that when she accompanied me I'd become invisible to the bank staff. " Point taken, worst i've heard of, years ago on a similar webboard, someone wrote that the bank staff member asked the farangs wife ''Male or female?" Apparently the Thai wife burst into strong laughter, bank staff lost and confused, Thai wife asked her farang husband in English "are you a man or a woman?" Farang responded "poochai". Bank staff now even more confused and asked the Thai wife "does he speak English?"

Why not call the BBL call centre and get some acts about the regulations/details involved? Waiting time to get a connection is minimal, the staff in the call centre staff all speak very advanced English and they don't bite.