Japhrodisiac

"I want foreign tourists who are victims of crimes in Phuket to cooperate with us when we investigate their cases, but they always rush back to their home countries after getting their stolen belongings back. This makes it impossible for police to press charges against the thieves as there isn’t enough evidence to secure a conviction."

So, they have the criminal, have the goods, return the goods to the victim, and can't convict because of a lack of evidence? And he goes on record saying this?

The police here are just laughable, not be taken seriously, unless their focus is on you of course, and then you need a lawyer. My friend was arrested recently and he was kept 2 days in jail, they tried to extort 4m baht from him, then released him and dropped the trumped up charges. To make the dropped charges official they want him to pay 100,000 baht to accelerate the proceedings. Of course he can't leave back home until they officially drop the charges so he's stuck. His lawyer is advising him to negotiate the 'drop charges fast amount' - it's just all a complete gong show.

When I first read the article this morning, my first thought was - "Not surprised", and as others have pointed out, Sanyo and Maxim are just the first. More than likely there will be others following not far behind.

Some have mentioned corruption, both here and other Asian countries. While that's true to an extent, it would seem it doesn't quite reach to Singapore. A few months ago a major IT company was considering opening a new facility in S.E. Asia, and had narrowed the list down to 2 countries: Thailand and Singapore. They finally settled on Singapore. In an interview the owner of the company was asked why he chose Singapore over Thailand. He stated two major reasons.

First, he said he wasn't about to pay 30% of his start up costs as bribes to corrupt officials.

Second, his company deals with international clients, most of whom speak English, and he stated that while Singaporeans learn English as a second language in school, in Thailand he couldn't find enough educated, English speaking people to fill even ONE of their many offices of the new facility.

When the reporter pointed out that the cost of labor in Singapore was much higher, the man stated that a higher waged, educated, English speaking labor force was actually cheaper in the long run, as having a lower waged, less educated, non English speaking labor force would lose business for him.

This is just one of the multitude of problems staring Thailand in the face, and over the next few years it's going to get a lot uglier.

Add to that the fact that Singapore offers very favourable taxes rates and a tax free period for start ups, Thailand's revolving door of inadequate workers and relatively high taxes make things very costly in the long run.

I have many a fond memory of Reggae Pub and spraying new years Champagne with him - quite a character. He was part Bono, part DJ and full time fun. RIP

Insurers are going to make a lot of these calls for the companies, without an adequate plan to prevent future flooding the insurance companies will not want to take the risk and either not provide coverage, or insist that the manufacturers find a better long term location. It's these types of cases that Thailand's consistent failure to address problems will come back to bite them.

I was cautioned to head towards Chachoengsao but it puts us a couple of hours out of the way, I did hear about normal buses running North still, but nothing confirmed. We'd be taking a little Nissan car so water/ground clearance will be a worry! Cheers all.

We're looking to drive a small car from Suk Mid sois up to Khon Kaen in the next few days. Has anyone done this trip recently and found a flood free route? Is it possible to go stright north or do we have to swing east on a giant detour? Any driving related flood news welcome. Cheers !

Sorry to be dim, but I am struggling to visualise this one.

So we have 4 stories with four apartments on each story. Do they put the chanote pegs on top of each other?

well now this is going to get confusing. condos and apartments are not the same thing in thailand.

Ah yes - I see the confusion. A few hundred meters from where I live - some condos are being built. Two story duplexes. (easy to put in the chanote.) A kilometer from where I live, some condos have just been finished. Four storeys!

So - how do they add the chanote pegs to the multiple storey building after it is finished?

i think there could be sme truth in this chanote thing though i would have to check properly if i was to buy 1. i know that the build needs a condominium liscence to build a condominum.

maybe with this liscence comes specail powers such as different chanote rights

i should really do a google search though i am not that bother because i not going to buy a condo any time soon

The condo license proces goes like this - The developer applies to the land office and tessabaan for a condo permit for the development. After checking zoning allowances etc, they are granted the initial ok to build a condo there. Their building permit will say condominium on it. However, this does not guarantee that it will receive a condo license upon completion, as there has to be an inspection by the land office to confirm compliance of all the condominium specific criteria - height restrictions, fire escapes, ceiling height, width of hallways etc. If the project passes inspection, then the land title is converted to individual condo titles. Note how many stages are required for authorities to stamp approval or deny this process, lots of opportunity for cash grabs here. There has been a bit of an urban myth about the land office in Samui not allowing condos. They are permitted, but no one built one until the Casavela (now Shasa Hotel) project was started, this was only a few years back, and was the 1st condo title granted on Samui, ever. The land office simply did not know what to do with it. A crew apparently was sent down from Bangkok to instruct the Samui LO and Tessabaan accordingly.

When you receive a condo title, it is a Chanote. The Chanote is for your apt size ie 35sqm. The condo titles are all produced on the same day, at building completion, the land office converts the main land chanote into many small chanotes as mentioned. If there are presales then the titles will be issued in the name of the buyer, if not, then the developer or company will own them until transfer. You cannot have any land title prior to building completion and issuance of condo titles. I have seen the process and seen the titles, not for this project, bot others.

can the chanotes be in the forang's name?

Yes, but only up to 49% of the total area of the building (not number of units) can be owned by foreigners. This is to prevent foreign ownership of a building in it's entirety. Therefore, a foreigner who buys the 220sqm penthouse may prevent a number of small units going to foreigners later. This gets really tricky and almost unenforceable when you get down the line a few years in resales. A private resale from a Thai to a foreigner I suppose could be blocked at the land office because the ratio would go over 49%. I've never seen it happen, but it could. The condo laws were really conceived for Bangkok to allow for foreign workers to own something, and the majority are Thai buyers anyway. They have proved problematic in the holiday markets where foreign buyers make up a much higher percentage. Typically, the Thai authorities have done nothing to address the problem, and developers sell the half the units quickly then get bogged down being unable to transfer the last 51% outside of Bangkok and Pattaya.

When you receive a condo title, it is a Chanote. The Chanote is for your apt size ie 35sqm. The condo titles are all produced on the same day, at building completion, the land office converts the main land chanote into many small chanotes as mentioned. If there are presales then the titles will be issued in the name of the buyer, if not, then the developer or company will own them until transfer. You cannot have any land title prior to building completion and issuance of condo titles. I have seen the process and seen the titles, not for this project, bot others.

How do you pardon someone who has not served any time, nor is in the country?

There is a separate legal process to appeal a conviction, but a pardon, with zero time served? I don't know the ins and outs of the Thai legal system but it seems improbable that they could do this legally.

It would be interesting to ask specifically for a list of over 60yr olds with less than 3yr convictions they had in mind when they wrote this at an emergency meeting

http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=290000

From the Canadian Gov't, update posted only today !

Not warning people is simply irresponsible, and potentially much worse.

I haven't used the station yet, but from driving by several times by taxi, it seems that one would have to lug their luggage up themselves. Seems very inconvenient and poorly planned.

I rode it yesterday and is only passable by motorbike. A total disgrace for the amount of time it lasted.

No rebar at all spotted in that pic, looks like the soil is still present on either side of the road, just washed out underneath, and 2 inches of concrete (should be 6 inches or more) with no steel rebar. Typical of the filtering out of monies for public works.

There are just so many commercial units available now for rent or sale, unless you have to be on the beach road in Chaweng, I would look elsewhere. I was just back for a month after almost a year away, soi Reggae is half empty, lots of businesses gone under and moved on, possibly hundreds of empty shophouses from Maenam to Chaweng. Those same (Tailor/T-shirt/ Luggage/Copy Painting and repeat) shops all struggling for business. Landlords here seem to have no idea of market driven economies, they just keep their price high and wait years to rent. It never ceases to amaze me. I was looking at a double shophouse unit in Bophut, the guy hasn't rented it in 3 yrs, wants big key money and high rent. TIT.

You can fly as stated, or there are buses going over many times per day, it's about 4 hrs from Phuket to Donsak, which is the ferry terminal for the boat trip over. Boats leave every hour and the trip takes approx 1.5hrs. You can buy through tickets at any local travel shop that will include your fare right through to Samui. If you have a rental car, it's a nice drive too, particularly if you use the older highway that takes you by the Rajjaphraba Dam, which takes a bit longer but is more scenic.

Honda Thailand price list via their website :

<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">Honda Wave

Honda Wave 110iFront-Rear Drum brake, kickstart, 110cc, PGM-FI

Honda Wave 110iFront disc brake, kickstarter, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 110iFront disc brake, electric starter, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 125iFront disc brake, kickstarter, 125cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 125iFront disc brake, electric starter, 125cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Wave 110i ATFront disc brake, electric starter, 110cc, CV-Matic transmission, PGM-FI

Honda PCX

Honda PCXFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda PCXFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection) Honda PCXFront disc brake, alloy wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Air Blade

Honda Air Blade iFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Air Blade iFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Air Blade i B.O ProjectFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click

Honda Click-i Tune UpFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i Tune UpFront disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i Tune Up B.O projectFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i ForwardFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Click-i Forward B.O projectFront (combo) disc brake, alloy wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda CZ

Honda CZ-iFront disc brake, spoked wheels, 110cc, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Honda Scoopy

Scoopy i 110 CuteFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Scoopy i 110 FunFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Scoopy i 110 PrestigeFront disc brake, spoked wheels, PGM-FI (fuel injection)

Maxi-Scooters

Honda Forza Z (NSS250)Front - rear (combi-ABS) disc brake, 250cc, PGM-FI, liquid-cooled, A.T.

Honda VTR

Honda VTR250 (mid-2010)Front - rear disc brake, PGM-FI (fuel injection), V-twin 250cc

Sport Cruisers

Honda DN-01Front - rear disc brake, 680cc V-twin, liquid-cooled, Automatic CVT

Honda Cruisers

Honda Goldwing GL1800Front - rear ABS disc brake, 1832cc, liquid-cooled, PGM-FI fuel-injection

Honda Choppers

Honda Fury VTI1300Front - rear disc brake, 1312cc, liquid-cooled, PGM-FI fuel-injection

Honda Fury VTI1300 ABSFront - rear ABS disc brake, 1312cc, liquid-cooled, PGM-FI fuel-injection

Honda CBR

Honda CBR150RiFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, e-start, 150cc DOHC PGM-FI

Honda CBR250RFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, e-start, 250cc DOHC PGM-FI

Honda CBR150R ABSFront - rear C-ABS disc brake, alloy wheels, e-start, 250cc DOHC PGM-FI

Honda CBR 600RRFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 600cc DOHC

Honda CB 1000RFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 1000cc DOHC

Honda CBR 1000RRFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 1000cc DOHC

Older Honda Scooters and Motorcycles Models.

The Honda Scooters and Motorcycles below are out-of-production, they may be still available at the local Honda dealer and Honda will service this models as usual.

Honda Dream

Honda Dream 125Kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Dream 125Electric starter, 125cc

Honda Wave

Honda Wave 100XFront disc brake, kickstarter, 100cc

Honda Wave 100Kickstarter, 100cc

Honda Wave 100Front disc brake, kickstarter, 100cc

Honda Wave 100Front disc brake, electric starter, 100cc

Honda Wave 125XFront disc brake, kickstater, 125cc

Honda Wave 125XFront and rear disc brake, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Wave 125XFront disc brake, electric starter, 125cc

Honda Wave 125Front disc brake, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Wave 125Front disc brake, electric starter, 125cc

Honda ICON

Honda ICON RockFront disc brake, alloy wheels, no combined brake system

Honda ICONFront disc brake, spoked wheels

Honda ICONFront disc brake, alloy wheels, combined brake system

Honda Nova

Honda Nova Sonic RSFront and rear disc brake, spoked wheels, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Nova Sonic RSFront and rear disc brake, spoked wheels, electric starter, 125cc

Honda Nova Sonic RS SuperFront and rear disc brake, alloy wheels, kickstarter, 125cc

Honda Touring

Honda Phantom 200 Fire EditionFront - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, tubeless, electric start, 200cc

Honda CBR

Honda CBR 150R Front - rear disc brake, alloy wheels, electric start, 150cc DOHC

Honda VFR

Honda VFR800Front - rear disc brake, PGM-FI (fuel injection), catalytic converter

From the OP:

Tourism Authority of Thailand or TAT Governor Surapol Svetserani reports that December 2010, the high season for tourism, saw 1.3 million tourists enter the country, according to statistics from the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

This puts the entire year�s tourism arrivals at 15.6 million baht, exceeding the target of 15.1 million.

12 * 1.3M = 15.6M. Yearly arrivals 15.6M. High season 1.3M. Assuming there is a low season, some months are better than high season?

I know it's not fair to complain, counting with only 10 fingers gets complicated when reaching higher numbers

Bang on

Your post was a life line in a sea of nonsense.

I could not believe the number of posters willing to expound there wisdom on a in your face farce.

This is likely the true method of calculation used by the TAT brigade, sadly. I remember peak tourist numbers of roughly 14 million being announced in the best years, and the place felt swamped, you couldn't move in nightlife areas of Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, Bangkok etc. Chiang Mai night market packed, weekend and night markets in Bangkok packed. 30 plus flights a day to Samui all full both directions. Hard to get a room in many places, even outside of high season. Now save for a high season week or 2, the place is a ghost town.

Reading a lot of the forums regarding the current crisis, it is interesting to see the varying replies and points of view. I thought that it would be informative to put up an informal poll to get a (very) rough idea of the kinds of numbers/percentages with these points of view.

Hello,

My Girlfriend's little dog was bitten by a big dog, he's in rough shape - amongst the issues is that his right hing leg is broken in half. I'm gonna bring him up to BKK and have surgery as Kaset Uni hospital, which most people seem to agree is the only way to go. I need a hotel in BKK that will allow small dogs. Any ideas?

I need to be there tomorrow latest so a quick answer would be much appreciated folks!! :-)

many thanks

One of my cats was fond of killing the odd chicken - I put the word out that I would pay for the bird, just don't kill the cat. Worked a few times, then they poisoned the cat anyway. Of course no one knew who it was...

Who is doing the Ranong/Burma run now? The one where you take the boat over to Victoria Point

Sorry to hear about the dog. My neighbor's dog (chocolate Lab) was killed last week from poison also. It's a very cruel and cowardly act, imo

Problems with different types of hospital :

1) Private (ie expensive by Thai standards) - make you wait until ability to pay or insurance is verified. You could die waiting

2) Small clinic - usually unable to do much for you outside of normal small injuries. have seen people wait for an hour, then get told they don't have the equipment when they could have been informed right away

3) Government Hospital - If they feel that they cannot save the person, they often do nothing, not even try. We had a staff member get hit by a car, head on, hard enough to detach both retanae. He was brought by the meat wagon, where they pronounced him untreatable - he would surely die. nothing was done for 30 minutes. He was moved to private hospital and was saved. He's back at work now after 1 yr rehab. Another case - our friends wife was involved in Car accident, she was breathing and talking for more than an hour afterwards, brought to Gov't hospital, they said nothing she could do (after 2 hrs just lying in a hospital bed) then she passed away. At the accident site, he wallet and mobile phone were stolen and people were taking pictures of the crash, instead of calling the ambulance.

If you do get picked up right away, chances are other drivers will not pull over and let the ambulance go on ahead.

Often, the drivers of the ambulance will take you to the place where they get the most commission, instead of where you ask to be taken to.

Dangerous place, huh?

Don't want to take this thread off topic; but your statements about hospitals in Thailand are awfully generalizing. I have been to many hospitals around Thailand and for sure the service and quality of care differs around Thailand; some places better then others.... When I arrived in a private hospital (Hatyai) with an acute appendix infection, I was right away hospitalized without any questions regarding insurance (didn't even have any at that time); when discussing the needed surgery the next morning; the hospital was well aware of the fact I didn't have any insurance however they did proceed with the surgery.

I am terribly sorry about what happened to the poor guy who died... Contact the embassy and have them deal with the mess...

I'm sorry too. I hate to think that a person died due to lack of care (in the many senses of care).

My post begins with "Problems with..." and is not an overall review of all aspects of the medical system here. Just noting things that have happened to me, friends/loved ones and things I have seen whilst in hospital.

Problems with different types of hospital :

1) Private (ie expensive by Thai standards) - make you wait until ability to pay or insurance is verified. You could die waiting

2) Small clinic - usually unable to do much for you outside of normal small injuries. have seen people wait for an hour, then get told they don't have the equipment when they could have been informed right away

3) Government Hospital - If they feel that they cannot save the person, they often do nothing, not even try. We had a staff member get hit by a car, head on, hard enough to detach both retanae. He was brought by the meat wagon, where they pronounced him untreatable - he would surely die. nothing was done for 30 minutes. He was moved to private hospital and was saved. He's back at work now after 1 yr rehab. Another case - our friends wife was involved in Car accident, she was breathing and talking for more than an hour afterwards, brought to Gov't hospital, they said nothing she could do (after 2 hrs just lying in a hospital bed) then she passed away. At the accident site, he wallet and mobile phone were stolen and people were taking pictures of the crash, instead of calling the ambulance.

If you do get picked up right away, chances are other drivers will not pull over and let the ambulance go on ahead.

Often, the drivers of the ambulance will take you to the place where they get the most commission, instead of where you ask to be taken to.

Dangerous place, huh?

Low 30's is fine. The dealers are the same, I had my new truck delivered with 50psi all around, and every service they bump it back to 45 or 50. They just read the sidewall and put the max pressure in.