Robin

Koh Tao is a 'holiday island' and lots of young people having a good time. Possibly easily available dink and drugs; local 'home -brew alcohol ' a potent drink is on sale in many shops at low cost, and possibly drugs availabl as well. Too much partying with strong drink and drugs, yabba (speed) and Ice (crack cocaine0, magic mushrooms, and even heroin. Ganga is now legal in Thailand. So, youth free from any parental control just might indulge to excess, with fatal circumstances. It is not unknown for young people on holiday in UK to drink themselves senseless, so would it be any different in Thailand with the local firewater so strong and so cheap?. Locals are veryt tolerant of such bhaviour and local plod is not going to waste effort with D&D charges. Local mafia will rejoice in the booming market for drugs.

How about this scenario. " He was diving to excess, longer that normally advisable, to make the most of his holiday. He comes back to his hotel room tired and takes a rest before the evening's party activities. ( he was on holiday, so entitled to enoy himself with his friends.) Many people sleep in boxer shorts, so nothing suspicious abut that. To get in the party mood, he takes a handful of chemical simulants. These on top of excessive exercise diving, are too much for his heart, so he has a cardiac arrest. It is a well known medical fact that death often follows a heart failure. The musty smell in his room can easily be explained by wet clothes/towels, bad drains, and no windows open. Poisoning is for the conspiracy theorists, could anyone forcibly administer poison to him without a struggle? AN followers should be aware of the Thai tendency to run from or any trouble, so not surprising that locals take the easy way out.... "Nothing suspicious to see here, just heart failure" I am sure that Local Plod remember all the trouble from the two murders a few years ago, so want this to go away as quickly as possible. Hotel owner similarly does not want any bad publicity, so quickly brush this away." Is there any requirement for a thorough medical before taking PADI diving course? Was there any reason why anyone would want him dead? It is not usual to murder someone for no reason I do not believe that any local thug would have the intelligence or means to administer some difficult to trae poison. More likely to beat him to death.

Sensible advice is to wear a helmet, but beware of Thai helmets. The fist one I owned, a standard style Thai Helmet, I once dropped rom about waist height by accident. Helmet cracked on impact with the road. Far less impact than in any potential crash, so I would have offered zero protection. I believe that some of the better Western makes are not permitted in Thailand as they have not bothered with getting Thai government approval Naturally Thailand knows best on how to make good helmets (cheap). Also on hired bikes, it is common for the front brake to be next to useless, more so than usual, as it is thought by some Thai 'experts' that using your front brake makes you more likely to skid. I once let a Thai borrow my Honda dream, and he returned it with the front brake adjustment backed right off, so useless, and told me it was much safer like that. is it any wonder the m/c accident ratee is so high?

Logically ( difficult in Thailand) The bus driver should be fired and go tp jail for some time (12 months?) to contemplate his attitude, but this will not get any compensation for the Bolt driver. Tour company will have to pay this as punishment for employing an idiot as a driver. Up to them to recover the money from the driver. As always in Thailand, unfortunately, nobody is responsible. One wonders if the bus driver actually had a licence?

here is a very radical suggestion:- How about Thais paying some form of ta on their income? How about every Thai with an income above the minimum wage paying an income tax of 20% on any income above this? At the moment, I believe that less than 25% of working Thais pay any form of income tax. Without any revenue, how can any government function? Has there ever been , or will there ever bee a government with the courage o introduce such a from of universal income tax? Without a tax base, Thailand will never become a 'developed country'

If you have a permanent address in Thailand, you can get a "Tambian Bann" or "yellow Book" which is an official Thai doc saying where you live. I believe that it also gets you into national parks at the Thai Rate. Apply at your local land office.

What is difficult? If you qualify, you will get an extension. I have been her on a retirement visa since an I/O first pointed me towards one. Never even thought of using an agent. Did this again last week at Phayao. I took the precaution of going first to immigration and asking them to list the documents I needed from my bank, then took this to bank an got the docs. Charged 300Baht for the work. All I did at immigration was fill in the form and sign the bank docs. Seemed quicker and easier than using an agent and nothing to pay except the visa fees

Why are you even asking such dumb questions? If you love the girl and want to marry her, you should know what you want and not be looking to A/N to give you the answer. if you have doubts, then you know the answer, or should. Remember Mr. Punch's advice to a young man about to get married: "Do not!" Plenty on A/N will confirm that Thai women are professionals at parting young Farang men from their money

Could it be that Phumtham has accidentally found out the commission his predecessor was given, and now wants his share?

he is not the first and will not be the last holiday maker to discover that riding a hired Thai bike can be dangerous. There are enough warnings, so why did he think he was immune to any dangers? Insurance companies are not stupid; they do not cover m/c riding, they know what the consequences are.

Health care in Thailand is no more expensive than private health care in UK. NHS healthcare in UK has become impossible, so better off in LOS. At least it's your choice if you see a Doc. here. You are only as old as you feel

"The only way to import drugs successfully is the suppository method." With 53.6 Kgs?

"The Suvarnabhumi Airport, internationally renowned ".... For its long lines and slow, surly, immigration officers. Also try taking baggage on the Airport rail link. Txi to town compared with S9ingapore; no nonsense about 'highway charge' in Singapore.

Further advice from yesterday. Make sure have everything in writing; Every contact with banks, opposition solicitors,... If you think that "Edward" has any possessions of "George,' warn him in writing that everything of George legally either belongs to George or to "Alice" and is 'sub judice' until probate is obtained. Keep copies and a diary of all communication with Edward, and try to avoid any more contact that is necessary; leave that to the solicitors. never mind if Edward take offence; do what you think is legal and best for Alice and George. At the risk of being wrong, I would hang on to every single thing of George's and not let Edward or anyone except your appointed solicitors have anything. If Edward get somehing relevant and then looses it, it is gone for ever. If you have kept it by mistake, you can always return it later and apologise for your mistake. We have to hope now that Edward was just an interfering 'chancer,' and will now see that there is nothing in this for him and quietly drop out and leave you to do the work. George is lucky to have a friend like you to sort this out. Good luck.

I cannot offer any legal advice, but my experience in similar cases is never to underestimate the greed of humanity, whne some 'money for nothing' is on offer. Nor should you trust anyone who might have claim, or think they have claim, for the money to act helpfully toward you. Never mind who is 'morally' right, they just want to money. The verbal 'las Will & Testament' has no legal standing if it was not witnessed. nor vry little even if there was a witness. Remember that said friend could easily have made the whole thing up simply to cover his theft of the bank cards and other stuff. Why else would he have taken that and not be wanting to return it to the correct owner. Try to keep written records of every communication you have with friend, and keep detailed notes of everything, every phone call, visit to bank, just about everything. if it come down to "I said, he said" you will need every scrap of evidence.

Only 68 motor cycles. Pity it wasn't 680, and all sent to to the crusher. I would imagine that whoever has bought the m/c on finance will have to keep paying the finance company as per his agreement. I am sure that Thai finance companies have plenty of experience of dealing with defaulters.

'He felt it was his right to smoke in public' What arrogance. it should be the right of every citizen to live in smoke free air, not breath the second-hand smoke from A-holes like this. Thankfully , UK is fairly strict about smoking now, so these scum think thy can come to Thailand and break the laws if thy want to. In my opinion Thailand is far too casual about enforcing their non-smoking laws. it would be very good if he law regarding smoking in bars was enforced. Good little earner for RTP as well; let them keep all the fines they collect.

Several months forced to clear the drains in Bangkok

So many experts know what should have been done: 1. Fire extinguishers. if you are not trained to use one, not going to be much good. 2. safety briefing before leaving? have you ever seen Thai ,or any other kids, pay attention to something like that. 3.Teacher take command? hat is he likely to know? 4. Inspect the bus before hiring? Cheapest is obviously the best. Parents might complain about the cost. 5. Was it true that the emergency doors were locked shut? Who by? if the driver did this then he is guilty of murder and should be punished accordingly. 6 It is very rarely an accident; normally a combination of mistakes and wrong actions.

Just try using a credit/debit card in any shop in Thailand. "No like, No want" is the usual response, followed by over-charging to cover the car company's fee. Thailand is a "cash only" economy. It suits the numerous criminals who live here, and supports tax evasion.

Will the Immigration and other ground facilities be able to cope? Not likely on the current showing

I believe that you can apply for your extension of visa up to 30 days before it expires, so why not do it early. I try to work with my local I/O; I visit them in the lst month, and ask for an appointment to make the extension, and then ask them to list the documents I will need to bring to them. Also check what photo I will need and show my Bank book o ensure that it will be accepted. On extension day, first visit my bank to get pass-book updated and the docs that I/O needs. Then to Immigration and extension done. Everyone happy and I am safe for another year. Usually I get a re-entry permit at the same time, just in case I have to leave in a hurry. I use ' money in he bank' instead of monthly income, as the paper work is easier, and the 800K is an emergency stand-by fund for me.

Animals have no imagination, so hey see only a place to walk, not thinking of what lies under. They also have incredible babalce.

I was with Nat West. Decent account. On-line banking worked and money could be transferred easily on -line. Then NW cancelled my account, no reason given and maximum inconvenience and rudeness. If you have a good relationship with NWB, I would go with them. Just do not complain to them about any aspect of their banking. Some UK banks, including Santander, appear to have difficulty sending money to Thailand via on-line banking. NB. Gave up with HSBC ; Their system was so secure that neither I nor any of their support staff could log me in and I had to close the account to get my money out. Many UK banks require you to have a UK address; check before you think of opening an account.

TRy to calm down some of the replies to my postings: I am in Thailand on a retirement visas using 800KB n the bank as source of funds. I have never worked in Thailand, so never had to bother with a Tax return, I cannot speak for my wife, as i do not interfere with her financial affairs. For many years, when working in Offshore, I was non-resident in UK, but paid UK taxes for 'unearned income'. Tax returns were prepared and approved by a professional accountant, and not questioned by HMCR Now I am fully retired, and had hoped to live out my life in Thailand, having saved and invested enough to keep wife any my self for the rest of our lives. The Seetha Government tax proposals have become a worry, but I am hoping that I can survive, using the non-tax-resident method. It will be interesting to see if Taksin, originator of he retirement visa, and perhaps more expat friendly in tax thinking, keeps with Seetha's proposals. As regards selling property in UK, I am familiar with CGT rules and not in need of any advice, only the question of is the value of the property 'savings' (noun) or not