Mr Meeseeks

Indeed, and many of them are sitting drinking cheap alcohol all day, and even some consuming yaba. Grab and Bolt type services eliminate the need to use them now, so hopefully they will all be gone in a few years.

The Erawan Shrine was built in 1956 after the Hindu Brahman priest proposed that it should be constructed. The shrine was built because it was observed that a nearby hotel named Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok hotels was seemingly cursed. Because of the curse on the hotel, it took longer to get completed, while the hotel was under construction the workers experienced a lot of dangers. So, in order to remove the curse, the shrine was built. When the shrine was fully completed the curse on the hotel was lifted and construction went on without any further casualties. https://sukhumvit.landmarkbangkok.com/tourist-attractions/the-history-of-erawan-shrine-bangkok/ Erawan Shrine bombing (killed 20 people and injured 125): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Bangkok_bombing In the early hours of 21 March 2006, a young man named Thanakorn Pakdeepol destroyed the statue with a large hammer. He was then beaten to death by angry bystanders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erawan_Shrine Cursed, I tell ye, cursed!

"The suitcases contained no large amounts of cash or valuables of any kind."

The Grand Hyatt Erawan is a cursed hotel, hence the neighbouring shrine. Thais believe this superstition, as several construction workers were killed when it was being built. There have been numerous incidents around the shrine that are believed to have more profound ramifications. Two of these include the mentally ill Thai man that defaced the statue and was beaten to death in the street, and the bomb allegedly planted by Uyghurs.

Money and face, the two most important things in this country.

I think this quote is appropriate here: "The only thing the Arab understands, is the heavy hand". - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet, GCB, OBE, AFC aka 'Bomber' Harris

Who are you going to 'educate'? Thais know everything already and can't be told.

Mr. Big gets away again. Oh Thailand, never change.

Sure pal. 👍

Congratulations. Did you get a medal? 🥇

Tell me you got to Thailand too old to properly enjoy yourself, without telling me you got to Thailand too late to properly enjoy yourself.

One of my UK passports (the red one) is the same and is full of stamps. When I arrived back in BKK the other day, the IO, a pretty young Thai trainee, said my passport was beautiful. She was quite smitten, as was I. 🥰

She's obviously a bit of a backpacker and travelling about on a budget. Nothing wrong with that. When I came to Thailand in my late teens, I didn't have the kind of money I do now. But boy, was I young enough to enjoy it properly back then! Those adventures I had in Thailand and Cambodia in particular were legendary, and priceless, because any amount of money could not purchase those types of experiences back in the 90's.

It's not, but there are proper requirements for HSE in the UK, places of employment are regularly checked, there is proper enforcement of the laws and appropriate punishments for offenders. Accident still happen, but I would wager that the UK is a much safer place to work across all industries than in Thailand. If Thailand actually could produce reliable statistics, we could prove that as absolute fact.

They have the OSH Act, the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Act B.E. 2554 (2011). The act clarifies responsibilities and duties of employer and employee as well as those of governments. Employer shall provide a safe working environment for employees. It's a bit of a joke really, as with most things here.

In the UK under HASAWA, employers are required by law to protect the health and safety of your employees. This means employers must risk assess all activities and if you employ more than 5 people you must document your findings. Abuse of HSE laws in the UK results in harsh punishments and even custodial sentences. Thai OSH Act has similar principles, but they need better regulations, a lot more enforcement and much harsher punishments for offenders. At the moment, I would suggest it is an impossible task.

From experience, that includes the government OHS training providers themselves. At a Thai offshore service company I worked for, not one person had a proper industry recognised safety qualification e.g. NEBOSH, IOSH etc. One guy had a degree in OSH from a local university, but had absolutely no experience and couldn't even do a simple risk assessment. The state of the place tells you everything you need to know about their attitude towards health and safety and as there is almost zero enforcement of the insufficient regulations, nothing will change.

This is Thailand, they are only interested in money. Hope that clarifies.

In the UK? In the UK turning right you give way to the left, entering a roundabout give way to the right.

Like father like son?

Even the batteries?

They did not anticipate that the Thais would not protect them and would drop their trousers when the Chinese came calling. Again, you cannot trust Thais in business and this has been exemplified at corporate level again and again over many years see Carlsberg, Pepsi, Walter Bau, and more recently Stark Corporation.

Good video pretty much sums it all up.

It's still in billions of dollars worth of debt.