jaywalker

I'm no Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but I could probably put together a database of every driver's license in Thailand with 50 Filipinos working 40 hrs/week in 6 months or so and make it a searchable database = a cop could punch a license number into an iPhone & see some clown's record along with validity of their license.

It could probably be done with a $10 USD/month hosting account.

That way they could toss repeat offenders under the jail.

What's the difference here between hit by a car bitten by mosquitoes or a soi dog? The owner said he let his guard down which implies lack of responsibility on his part...all three are known risks...

Was the dog on hotel property which would include hotel responsibility (maybe not in Thailand vs western laws?). In the west the hotel would have a policy and communication plan about known risks in your confines...

This would be an interesting court case well at least in the West...

In theory all accidents are preventable; in reality should be minimized with due diligence...

Pu-lease???

The guy didn't let his kid go play in the middle of Sukhumvit, nor did he let his kid go play in the wolves' den at a zoo.

The kid was on a BEACH, normally enjoyed the world over as a family destination, unlike the middle of a roadway or in and amongst wild, vicious, and dangerous animals.

And.....what do mosquitoes have to do with this?

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While at Tuckom recently to deal with our internet connection , the Missus asked if I wanted to look at dash cams since she knew I had an interest in getting one since reading a compelling thread over a year or so ago where a motorbike rider was killed entering a boulevard without even looking at oncoming traffic.

The OP said he felt it was the evidence on his dash cam that saved his butt from becoming the responsible party for the ladies death. I agree with what he said.

A dash cam does not protect our physical safety but at least if the safety features of the car made in Thailand keep us alive, possible the dash cam will keep me out of jail.

I don't drive like I'm in a rush to get anywhere. The Missus knows I don't like speeding.

The thing was around 3300 THB and works great. USB power and we can still charge our phones and whatever.

So you are usingyour phone when you are diving???? I thought that was against the law also, besides speeding.?

He said dash camera.

It starts with the ignition. It mounts (of all places) on the dash. It records what happened such as your speed, the date & time of day and GPS location, as well as what the other motorist did or did not do.

It seems like a great idea, and a pretty cheap way to prove what happened should you get in an accident.

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While at Tuckom recently to deal with our internet connection , the Missus asked if I wanted to look at dash cams since she knew I had an interest in getting one since reading a compelling thread over a year or so ago where a motorbike rider was killed entering a boulevard without even looking at oncoming traffic.

The OP said he felt it was the evidence on his dash cam that saved his butt from becoming the responsible party for the ladies death. I agree with what he said.

A dash cam does not protect our physical safety but at least if the safety features of the car made in Thailand keep us alive, possible the dash cam will keep me out of jail.

I don't drive like I'm in a rush to get anywhere. The Missus knows I don't like speeding.

The thing was around 3300 THB and works great. USB power and we can still charge our phones and whatever.

I wonder if they have a dash cam that will pan 90 degrees to video the cops asking for bribes for imaginary offenses?

Driving down the 1095 yesterday i had to stop on a hairpin to allow a truck coming up to swing round the corner. It was 10000% obvious we would collide if 1 of us didnt stop. 5 series bmw on bangkok plates behind the truck and with full view of the situation instantly swings round the truck to overtake. He then finds himself bumper to bumper with me on my side of the road....even a bicycle could not have got through trying what he did...... they are just brain dead. He held us up for 10 minutes then as no one behind him would let him reverse back onto his side of the road.

Where's that Khao Yai elephant when you need him?

Som nam naa at its best!

Have Europeans play the role of administrators. This was done in Thailand over 100 years ago in ministries governing logging, railways, etc. Working day in day out under European management would lead to much more competent and effective performance by civil servants.

I recall reading about some Greek guy that was a top advisor to the monarchy around the turn of the last century. He got murdered.

EDIT: He was an advisor to King Narai in the 1600's & got executed in 1688.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Phaulkon

14 years ago, my wife couldn't drive a 10-penny nail into a piece of cake, even after 3 months of driving lessons!

I can only assume her Thai instructor was dumber than a bag of hammers. I had neither the time nor the nerve to teach her back then.

I took her to the driving test in Surin & she failed miserably.

600 baht later she came out with a new driver's license.

Mayhaps end the corruption at the DL office would be a huge step in the correct direction.

In spite of what people may think, there are islands where rich Westerners go to. Boracay is an example.

I remember Boracay from when it was the archetypal beach paradise for backpackers, with only buildings without foundations and no electricity, and the accommodation was beach huts for few tens of pesos.

It has changed somewhat since then.

Boracay doesn't hold a candle to even Koh Larn. The entire beach is/was about 500 yards long maybe when I was there in 2000.

It had hotels & a nightlife of sorts though, which Ko Larn did not have back then.

I've spent a decade in Thailand & only a few weeks in the Phil's, so I'm no expert. The original question is an enigma to me as well.

I recall IloIlo City & driving by stagnant tidal bays so full of plastic bags & garbage you could walk across them without getting your feet wet, & ZERO Tollways/Expressways in Manila.

I got "hung up" in Manila once on business, supposed to return to the US, & the boss suddenly wanted me to drop in to East Fricking Timor as I was "over that way".

The capital of East Timor, Dili, was still smoldering from psycho's that lost their minds in the 1999 independence referendum.

Anyhow, my contact in Dili told me to hold off on my visit for a few days. I was staying in the Manila Shangri-la at $167 a day (or so.....bastards changed my room rate by a few USD cents every day according to the USD exchange rate.....what a nightmare of an expense report!)

I HATED Manila & had never heard of Angeles City, so I managed to save the company some money for the 12 days I was twiddling my thumbs by staying at the Niggi-Niggi-Noo-Nooch Bungalows on Boracay at $30 a night.

I rented a dirt bike for a day & aside from that one beach strip, there wasn't a lot to see.

Ko Larn is bigger than Boracay & has half a dozen nice beaches, but only got a few decent hotels in the last few years.

It really is strange how the two countries are very much alike, yet so different.

My guess is it must be the island isolation, plus the natural disasters that so often occur in the Phil's.

Corruption is rampant there, but it's the same if not worse in Thailand.

My company offered to send me in with a couple 40 foot containers of goodies for free for their Army once. The idea was to have me rebuild some 1985 era model ground equipment into the next century & the General turned us down because we wouldn't bribe him.

Our East Asia Director of Sales vowed the opposite of MacArthur. He vowed to NEVER return!

"The province’s Damrongtham Centre earlier has received complaints about public transport and vendors blocking traffic lanes with vehicles, rental motorcycles and furniture."

What is it with Asians & crowding every last bit of everything imaginable into tiny spaces?

Let's build 2 feet off the edge of the road & leave zero room for parking....AND let's put s&it everywhere on the road.

Taiwan is the same way.

The answer is because countries like the UK have regulations which are strictly enforced. If you commandeer the pavement for your own business, the local council and police will be visiting you and issuing fines within a short period of time. Commandeer the actual road, and thus cause an obstruction to traffic flow and / or parking and you will find the police or a traffic warden there within a few hours, guaranteed.

Thailand does not have strict enforcement of regulations. Thus businesses "rent" bits of pavement and road off the municipal police or other enforcement agencies and grab whatever else space they can. The result is a blocked pavement and reduction of the road space.

It is an easily observed difference between the two cultures. Go to Asian-occupied areas of Europe. They recreate the messy chaos as much as they are permitted to. I believe it is a strong cultural trait based on having little faith in other's or competitiors' willingness to follow the rules so everyone tries to bend or flagrantly disobey the rules to get the most they can. Only suckers and losers would obey the rules in that environment.

A pack of Laotians moved in 1/4 mile/400 meter down the road from my Mom's house in Florida. She's lived there almost 50 years & it's in the country.

They insist on having parties with 17 foot tall speakers BLARING AWAY as loud as possible.

Here I was, sitting in her back yard, listening to crickets chirp & owls hoot, when BLAM!

It was like I was down the street from a Thai wedding or funeral or something.

Those Laotian picked the WRONG Farang to irritate that day. I called the sheriff's office on the IDIOTS.

Fricking retards.

"Several victims came to the police station to finger the suspects, Thai style."

Words elude me.....I wonder what kind of "Thai style" fingering they'll get in jail & dammit, how can we be sure they're the "thwarted culprits" without somebody pointing at them?

"The province’s Damrongtham Centre earlier has received complaints about public transport and vendors blocking traffic lanes with vehicles, rental motorcycles and furniture."

What is it with Asians & crowding every last bit of everything imaginable into tiny spaces?

Let's build 2 feet off the edge of the road & leave zero room for parking....AND let's put s&it everywhere on the road.

Taiwan is the same way.

http://www.thailandtrustmark.com/en/business/directory/detail?businessId=263

How do you smuggle a car into Thailand?? and where would you smuggle it from, I mean where is the nearest tax free zone where you can purchase these cars? I am honestly curious.

There's a "Bonded" warehouse zone at Laem Chabang port, where a Thai company can import, say a left hand drive luxury car, convert it to right hand drive, and then it theoretically gets exported to Malaysia or Australia etc with no Thai import duties, as it, again theoretically, doesn't leave the bonded area.

I'd imagine a few slip thru there.

The missing guy is my half-brother. I last spoke to him on Skype about a year ago & he's dropped off the grid.

He'd married & divorced a UK lady, & decided to stay there to be near his 2 kids.

I know he was growing green things indoors with lights etc, so there's a good chance he may be behind bars.

Does anybody know of a Liverpool website where I can check arrest records and/or have any other ideas on ways to look for him?

He's no longer active on Facebook or Skype.

M Roy Ha Sip!

I have to commend them for at least trying to do something against it.

+1 ... some people closer to home could learn some lessons from this.

I agree it is nice for the Authorities to try and do something. But if it is anything like they did for the Beijing Olympics, getting the people to learn and queue, then it will not last long. The Chinese people went right back to their normal ways after the Olympic games, pushing in queues and really behaving without any manners and decorum.

I would make them do some training beforehand on queuing along with some of the middle eastern tourists. For the Thai Tourism Authority, I would start redefining what a quality tourist is.

I got caught in a mob of Chinese women at Nong Nooch Gardens once.

They had just opened the gate for the elephant show & WOW! I got smushed & elbowed like mad!

This should be rich.

I was working with the UAE Army in 1998 & they had aspirations to join NATO.

We were giving their "bright" young officers a class on how to classify everything military to a standard parts system, and how it all must be cataloged, which should be pretty simple, given that pretty much everything their military has comes from a NATO country.

At the end of a 2 hour lecture, a young UAE Army captain, says, "Now, I do not understand. Why must we use catalogs?"

Add that to Thainess & well...

Oh yeah, I once went to Abu Dhabi to do a 1 month training course, which some Colonel got stretched to 2 months. No problem. I stayed another month.

At the end of I needed a signature & the colonel wouldn't touch it. I had to go chase a Brigadier General all over town, one who had no I dea what I was talking about, have tea with him, and he eventually signed it.

WHEW!

Can't have any thoughtcrime now can we?

3 years

Try doing it the smart way

Cut a hole in the floors and demolish it inwards floor by floor

The rubble falls to ground level

All you end up with is a large pile of concrete waiting to be crushed and used as road base

Or maybe controlled internal implosion could be achieved in few months of planning with correct specialists involved.

Surely you jest! "Correct specialists"! Bah!

It would probably take them 4 years to get work permits for them = better off letting Somchai peck away at it with a claw hammer for 3 years.

Aren't guns illegal in OZ?

If so, how can this happen?

Hope the terrorist gets shot & the hostages get out, but one armed citizen amongst the hostages could be quite handy.