Thunglom

"Coz Thailand's got such a good record of picking sides and dealing with human right and atrocities?

Driving into Laos I've driven extensively in Laos since 2009. interesting to hear about fuel shortages - my truck sucked up diesel. as for driving on the right - well USA, every other country in Europe ( the world division is 60/40) - I even had LHD in UK - it really doesn't make that much difference. The only time to be careful is after about 2 days when you ae feeling confident and forget - after your second roundabout, it's just second nature Assuming they've dropped all te Covid restrictions driving into Laos and back is VERY easy. Your Thai driving licence is recognised in Laos. You don’t need an IDP You need a "purple book" or car passport. This is available at any DVLT office it takes about one hour. For this you need proof of where you live, visa, car logbook and just about any other car document you can get your hands on. You must be the owner of the car to enter Laos or have the owners written permission - e.g. if I is on finance the finance company must agree. At the Thai/Laos border - I think everyone has covered the documents and the same on the Laos side - you'll have to buy some Laos insurance (4 weeks)at the border. a few hundred baht. Two things - I got my Thai insurance extended to go into Laos - but after frequent trips they refused and then bought yearly insurance in Laos. Most people when they go into Laos either cross and Nong Khai/Vietiane or Mukdahan/Savannakhet. There are MANY other places you can cross (pre-Covid) some a really quiet and beautiful - so depending on your itinerary you can chose some great crossings. I hardly ever used Vientiane if I could avoid it, it was too busy. I lived in Savannakhet for a while and it would take 35 minutes to get from my house in Savannakhet to Big Co in Mukdahan - so not so busy there. It's also worth remembering that with a car, you can often avoid handing in your passport with the other bus and foot passengers - do with your car docs and save loads of time. If you can choose a quiet crossing it’s so much more relaxing. Driving in Laos The roads vary so much. I had a custom 4x4 and it helped at times – e.g. rain/mud/landslips…even winching Laos buses out of ditches The problem with roads is that you can go one month and they are fine but after a rainy season and a bit of 8 wheeled trucks the entire road gets broken into pieces. The first time I drove from Vientiane to Luang Prabang it required an overnight stop – now you can do it in half a day. There’s a new road for a start. The best roads by far are the ones built by the Chinese, they seem to remain serviceable much longer, In general the traffic is lighter and the driving a lot calmer. If you make use of the 4x4 you can go for hours without seem much more than a tractor and a bus. I’ve had one run-in with the police: - in Vientiane, for going down a one way street the wrong way. Once they realised I was paying cash (bout 200 baht) they were all smiles and waived every time I saw later. There were areas in Laos that twenty years ago were regarded as “no-go” because of bandits but apart from an isolated incident about 4 years ago, I haven’t heard of anything like that. On the main roads these days, there are plenty of fuelling stations – 10 years ago they were few and far between. I’ve have to change fuel filters a couple of time when returning from Laos but I think now the risk of dirty diesel is much less. I love driving in Laos and can’t wait to get back there soon. Favourite crossing? Tha Li bridge near Loei, stay in Kenthao

Expats in places likeBang Chang should be very concerned about this - the locals have been for decades.......this is not new - about 8 years ago it was pointed out the up to 50% of industrial waste in the area was dumped illegally in waste sites not prepared for industrial waste. I notice next to this dump there is some water. The problem with a lot of this waste is that it seeps into the water supply and farming soil and thence into te local food supply. It can also seep into the sea and pollute the air. Note the fine dust on your car when left outside. BTW When were the trucks taking the waste? Chonburi and Rayong have some of the largest industrial areas in Thailand. They have been allowed to develop without proper regulation or monitoring. Successive authorities attitude seems to have been - out of sight, out of mind.

Final nail in the UK coffin? End of the Era of peace? After Brexit, economic collapse, and war in Europe, we're back to square one before she became Queen.

All elephants to some degree are injured by carrying people.

I think this thread shows the appalling lack of genuine critical thinking amongst many of those contributing. please try to teach yourself the basics of critical thinking!

What on earth were these people doing riding an elephant. Are they so out of touch they don't realise that this is animal abuse. One is tempted to think "som nam Na"

QED Got a upgraded camera of PowerBuy - got it discount and then they fixed a new touch screen under warranty. I got an apology basket delivered to my office by Carrefour. (remember them?) - they messed up on something Mitsubishi sent an expert team to fix my 6 year old pickup at a garage of my choice. Nissan replaced a cylinder head on my 5 year old vehicle at half price They also sent a team to drive my vehicle and check the engine - we drove around Suvarnabhumi for an hour or so Areolas factory fitted a brand new replacement tonneau cover - gave me a meal in the factory office and a bottle of wine to take home. Big C gave me trolley full of goodies and a discount on an already discounted thing machine and later on a freezer. Siam Bank re-opened a branch at 5 pm to issue me an ATM card when mine was skimmed in a price station. Immigration processed my proof of address in one afternoon because it was an emergency - they normally take 2 days. They also helped me get a visa sorted on the Cambodian border because the had mistakenly stamped the wrong one at Suvarnabhumi. Nissan offered me a 100000 baht discount plus P-exchange in their Chiang Mai branch - it was the only version they had in the country. Thule roof racks sent me 18000 baht worth of equipment free from Malaysia because their Thai branch sent me the wrong stuff. VVP - sent me a free set of adjustable sucks because they accidentally sent the wrong ones first I can't off the top of my head think what I've had from Tesco's But If you ask right in Thailand, you get a good response. Angry farangs who can't be bothered to speak Thai names properly get nothing But If you ask right in Thailand, you get a good response. Angry farangs who can't be bothered to speak Thai names properly get nothing.

A Brexiteer speaks!

I'm not surprised by this response - it just illustrates the kind of thinking one is up against. (I use the word "think" in its loosest form)

I think if you go in with that attitude, you are more likely to have problems. I have had a lot of experience of CS in Thailand and it does fall below western expectations, but I've managed in the end to get very satisfactory results largely by speaking Thai and not taking a negative attitude.

I won't be eating there again in a hurry. I had eaten there before (meatballs - not very good I thought) But, the fact tat they allowed food to become infected means that I suspect all of their menu and the general hygiene of the place.

with Dill

is there such a thing?

THat's quite enough for me, You do not have the ability to discuss this - you are just basically using racial prejudice to back up an untenable position.

Just hope he's rich and he'll buy his way out.

the fact that all you can do is quote a dictionary shows that you are just not up to debating this topic. Just like on other threads your thinking is below par. heres's other definition "Simply put, an immigrant is a person living in a country other than that of his or her birth. No matter if that person has taken the citizenship of the destination country, served in its military, married a native, or has another status—he or she will forever be an international migrant." The problem is that racists have immigrants and when they realise they are one too they do anything to pretend they aren't. As far as "permanently" as part of a definition it is just daft s no-one can predict the future. By your definition, If you die in Thailand then you have to redefine yourself as an immigrant post mortem?

You are a classic example of the foreign driver who thinks they know everything but in reality understand nothing - my guess is that your "opinions" as you laughingly refer to them are so badly formed because you have few reading or comprehension skills. your comments on road safety are just cliches and on my postings are baseless.

you keep reading your stamp, I'll look at the Rea;ity

Almost everything you assume about road safety is wrong. As said it is the arrogance (and ignorance) of foreign drivers that contributes so much to the dangers on our roads.

A profoundly unintelligent reply - eyone knows what is says on you visa - that is not the internationally recognised definition of "immigrant" - if you live in a country long-term you are an immigrant regardless of what iit says on your passport - how about refugees, alum seekers - migrate means to move immigrant means to move in-simples...

I've driven bkes since I was 7 years old. I've driven on several continents. For 15 years in Thailand I owned various bikes. When I moved to Samui I had to use a bike whilst my truck was in for repair. Of all the roads in Thailand I'd driven the roads on Samui are by far the worst. 73% of all deaths in Thailand are 2-wheelers. This figure is pretty reliable. However Samui has a particularly lethal combination of poor roads and inexperienced foreign drivers. No stats are available for the deaths on the island or the percentage of foreigners involved. Furthermore there is no breakdown into the three Internationally recognised categories of injuries minor and major and deaths. "We accept the risk" - this is a flawed attitude as when someone is injured or dies, it isn't just them that feels the repercussions - there are family and friends, loss of earnings, increased insurance premiums extra workload on hospitals and damage to other third parties. When you say "we" in fact iy has to mn "us" as in the general public.

Sorry but that is just blind faith....Video science is unreliable and incomplete...... it needs and intelligent and analytical approach. It has become apparent that there is plem=nty in the available video that is open to interpretation and it leaves out a lot - especially the last 500 m leading up to the crash

They are hypotheses - as said - in your case it's based on the evidence in your posts. BTW - I have driven EXTENSIVELY in Thailand and several times up that particular junction.