Robin

The only thing that Anutin learns from experience is how to keep repeating the same mistakes over and again. Should we expect any better from such a bunch of proven idiots?

Just whenit looked as if Tourism might be recovering, and travel stating again, Thailand has to come up with new restrictions. Does Thailand want any Tourists in 2023?

At lest a picture of the ship. I count 3 life rafts visible on the port side, and presumably the same on stb. side. Each ife rafte should take at least 25 people, so plenty of capacity for even those with no life jackets. Standard abandon ship procedure is to launch and inflate life raft and then board from the ship, thus avoiding any crew getting into the water. Life jackets are an additional safety measure, should not be needed. All life rafts should have 'hydrostatic releases, so launch automatically when/if the vessel sinks. My questions , based on 25yrs in offshore industry, would be:- Were all the crew trained in basic offshore survival procedures, and how recently? (Normally training every 3yrs. and assessed by an independent examiner. Was a basic 'emergency/ abandon ship drill carried out after the vessel left port? Normally standard procedure, particularly with a number of new crew/passengers Captain is responsible for enforcing all these rules. It is beginning to look as if the RT navy can only defend Thailand in calm weather

Accidents are caused by combinations of events; e.g. low balcony rail height; taller than Thai visitor; visitor not takin care due to alcohol/ drugs/ general high spirits on NYE. Remove one possible cause and the accident does not happen;- make railing higher, behave more responsibly,= no accident. That is what Safety Regulations are all about, but here in Thailand, nobody wants to think that bad things might happen, so minimal safety regulations, (boring, expensive..). The onus is on the visitor to take care, but if they are not pre-warned, or assume that the 'nanny state' has put rules in place, and enforces them, then accidents happen. Thailand is too concerned with its 'image' to post any warnings; no resort is going to admit to any possible safety failings, and ommon snense is ofen left at home when on holiday.. There are no easy answers.

Quality Tourists, here to spend 1,000's baht a day? Round themup nd send them back to Russia. They must get some pay in the Army.

Why only probation? Drunk driving is clearly an offence, so should be punished accordingly. In UK and other countries, I believe, Being caught drunk driving (DWI) it is a certainty that you will loose your license for a year, which is a more powerful deterrent that simply probation, If Thailand really is serious about improving road safety, then the punishments nee to really hurt.

over the holiday, wife and I spent 1 night in hotel in Chiang Rai, visiting the flower festival. I presume that hotel did a TM30 for that night , though no evidence of it. Sudden thought last night:- Now we are back home again, do I, or wife, need to do another TM30 or our own house?

Since I got my Yellow Book, 3-4years ago, I have presented this to Phayao I/O at every visa extension, TM 30 or 90day I have done, and each time it has been waved away "Not necessary!" yet it was Chiang Rai I/O that told me that I should get one as it was "Important" TIT

if it was a scheduled sailing, not an emergency, there should not be any reason why any of the crew were no onboard. They knew the sailing time, so any business should have been resolved beforehand. White wash an cover-up being prepared. The influential and important are taking care to keep out f this. Will the captain be questioned in public hearings or all kept behind closed doors. Are we sure there wasn't a Burmese fishing boat in the area?

Is this surprising in a country where you can pass your driving test without changing gear or diving on a real road? Even if you wanted to bother with the driving test

Very big silence as to the fate of the Captain. Did he go down with his ship, or was he among he first to be saved?

There are Rules, and if yu want to stay in a country, you should obey them. or take the consequences. Fine him and deport him. If he hasn't got a return ticket, keep him in jail until he gets one. No money; tough S..t

For a small sum, I would suggest Western Union. Always works for me and only basic questions asked. My experience of UK banks is that they are paranoid about being party to a 'scam.' by helping a customer transfer money to Thailand. Friend in UK should tell her bank in no uncertain terms that she will do what she wants with her money, and that she knows the recipient. bank cannot refuse to do what they are told to do, only make some token effort to protect her from a scam. Note that you can do aWU transfer all on-line without any human contact to give you B/S like this.

Recently did my Retirement extension of Non O at Phayao. They told me I could come any time up to 30 days before it was due. Erlier when I was having to travel overseas for work when extension was due, I did the extension 6 weeks early at the old Suan Plu I/O. I was told to write a letter to I/O giving the reason why I wanted to do the extension early. Even given a pen and paper so that I could do the letter there nd then. We do not see that level of helpfullness so much now?

Please, let's hope that nobody puts more passengers on a ferry and then tere are not enough life jackets if it sinks in rough weather. One accident at sea is enough, but will anybody learn? Especially when there is more money to be made by putting extra passengers onboard.

Standard procedure on all ships that I have worked on has been that there is 1 life jacket for each crew, normally kept in their cabin, and another at the emergency muster station; i.e. at least 2 for each crew onboard. When extra 'passengers' are onboard, it would ultimately be the captain's responsibility to ensure that there were enough life jackets. I note a big silence as to the Captain's fate. Did he go down with his ship, or was he one of the lucky ones? As for using Styrofoam boxes instead of life jackets; that is complete B/S. The purpose of a life jacket, properly worn, is that it keeps the user afloat, face above water, even if the user is unconscious. it also has a light to attract attention of rescuers, and being orange colour, is most easily seen. Normal operating procedure, with a load of "passengers" onboard who might not have safety training, would be to hold an emergency drill son after leaving port. If this had been done, the shortage of life jackets would have been obvious. Normally, it would be the decision of the Captain if extra "passengers" perhaps not properly trained in emergencies, were carried. Could he have been overruled by some superior onshore?

There do not appear to be any accurate reports of weather conditions at the time and place of the accident, though these should have been recorded in the ships' logs of the rescue ship and any other vessels in the area. Wind speed and direction are often recorded automatically, as would be roll and pitch of the vessel. This information should give a picture of the sea conditions at the time. This is the NE Monsoon time of year, when the weather is at its worst in the Gulf of Thailand, but... The normal NE Monsoon conditions are 20-30 knot winds and3-5 metre seas. Nothing to bother a ship of this size. Clearly something 'went wrong' and even engine failure should have been survivable. Power loss? There should be emergency generators that kick in automatically when this occurs. Water ingress and flooding? When at sea in any poor weather, it would be standard procedure for all water-tight doors to be shut., but any idiot could have been opened without permission. Standard procedure would be for a Board of Investigation to be set up to discover the cause of the sinking, but TIT and it might reveal some embarrassing facts. We can only wait and see. There is simply not enough information given to speculate any further.

Unfortunately, we have to accept that Thais do not really want Farangs to visit Thailand; we are a bad influence on Thais and give them ideas about human rights and democracy that they should not have. Being married to a Thai makes this worse, as you have taken a lady that could be a wife/ servant/ mistress for a Thai. Thais only want your money, and staying with your g/f is not giving any money to hotels etc. The only answer is to grit your teeth and try to be pleasant to the I/O. he has t power to jerk you around as much as he wants.

Can we trust any election result, when it comes? Prayuth is too fond of power to let go easily. If he is voted out, who is to make him go? Logically, his chance of re-election are slim, but I do not believe that he will go willingly.

Trying to watch World Cup on Ch24; Isn't that True? Kept doing this at start of games. Unplug and restart the box and all OK. I was assuming this was due to Thailand not paying FIFA fees for world Cup.

When I returned from UK last Aug. I was given 30 day visa exempt. I/O at SVB saw my old, (expired) Non 0 retirement and said she coudl only give me a 30 day. I took passport to local I/O, Phayao when doing TM30 after arriving home, and asked I/O there if I could convert Visa exempt to Non O for retirement. he took my details and made a copy of my passport and gave me an appointment to return in 7 days, with bank statements etc. as per usual Retirement extension. On return she had forms filled out ready and with no fuss I was given a 90 day non O and told to come back and do an extension as usual. Charge for this was 10,000 Baht (for services) 2000 B for visa and 8,000B for filling in the right forms. I have no objection to paying this as it was getting my visa with minimum trouble. Returned as I was told, and 365 day Non O Retirement visa extension granted. Again a fee for services on top of visa fee, but, so what, I now have my visa with no trouble, and I/O is happy. I got he impression that the change from visa exempt entry to Non O w s a standard procedure, though I have never done so before. Only did it this ime as getting a Non O from RTE London was too complicated to want to bother with.

Election promises like this are the main reason why critical thinking is not taught in Thai schools. Double the minimum wage, the government can pay it, they can make more money. So esy to print more 1000 baht notes, and they do no cost much.

Thank you for all your advice and comments. I now know , or think I know, more about EV's. My initial thought was that an EV might save me money while saving he planet, but I am not so sure now. Easiest way I can think of saving money is not to replace my Vios until I have to. it is a competent car, if not perfect, and doe what I want of a car. I agree that the EV situation is changing quickly, and may be different in 2-3 years time, like buying a PC was in the earlier days. (next year there will always be a cheaper and better model.) A friend of mine in UK bought a Volvo EV/ Hybrid last year, and has had several expensive repairs already. Not what I would have expected. I have no plans to move house, but also our home would not benefit from going Solar, as we do not have aircon or swimming pool. I remain slightly dubious about the ability of Thais to cope with maintenance/ repairs of EV's unil they have more experience, and I do not want to be one who is paying for their training. So Vios for some time yet, and then might change it for something with a smaller engine, if that exists

At the moment I drive a Vios, bought new 5-6 years ago, and still going well. When i have o replace it, i would like o consider Electric, but do not know if it would suit me. MY car use is for trips with wife to local town or shops, with occasional longer runs, but to 200 Km. My thought are that an EV might be suitable, and to fit my car port with solar panels so that the car ban be charged when not is use, thus saving on running costs. Is this a viable scheme? Are there people who would install the appropriate solar equipment? (and know what they are doing, not the typical Thai wannabe workman) I live in Phayao, and have not noticed any charging points, so should I be considering a Hybrid with ICE as a back-up for longer trips. I doubt if I will be buying a new car this year, but I would like more information so that I can consider for he future, Thanks in advance.

Braking distances given in High way Code are conservative, but still should be followed. All depends on when the driver starts braking, and if his brakes are in good order