stevenl

Applies to foreigners as well at same rates

No.

So, if any of the readers/members drive a 4 dr black isuzu missing mirror and for certain a fair amount of front end and left side damage, save the trouble of the police coming to you.

Don't understand this BTW, the accident was on January 3, and you helped her rebuild yesterday, more than 2 months later? And at the OrBorTor all footage was still available more than 2 months later?

BTW, why did you change the font? The standard font is much better legible than the one you're using now.

Go after expiry. You will get a new 5-year license plus the time till your first birthday, so normally almost 6 years.

I also agree, but that is not the reason. This situation has not changed whatsoever. It may look now like more people are using a bike, but I remember threads every year with people saying they have seen more bikes. And the bikes don't ionvolve tourists on bikes, but tourists in cars, minibuses and locals on bikes.

Last two bus trips I took from the Phuket area we had to take turns whacking the drivers, who were nodding off regularly at high speed.

On a third (Noparat Tours) the driver stopped the van for a 'break', & I found him going through our luggage at the back.

Think I might take my hols elsewhere in future.

Make sure you don't go on vacation anywhere in Thailand then.

it's a sad year for tourists in thailand, so how many already died this last months ?

Don't know how many, but for some reason the number seems to have gone up significantly. And for no reason that springs to mind.

See also this thread, seems it is a nation wide issue at the moment due to security checks.

See this link for double cab refunds, see here for sedans and here for 2-door pickups.

I thought the car had to be under 1.6L engine size to get the tax back!as my friend found out after buying a fiesta for his gf and it was a 1.8L!

Fiesta is not part of the rebate scheme, also 1.6 liter not. See the list in the link.

For the 4-door pick ups this is the link, check at the same website for the rebates for other cars.

Yes, you can. Your choice whether it is worth it yes or no, but simply check the policy.

There probably is some kind of formula, but that will depend on the amount of tax paid. Much easier is to look up the amount on the website dedicated to this, check in the thread 'best pickup', I think I found the whole overview there. KBB gave it if my memory serves me right.

The story posted, she was broken up already with her estranged husband for a year previously..

You must have read another story....

Let's stick to the story here, which DOESN'T say that "she was broken up already with her estranged husband" (sic), who DIDN'T report her missing for THREE YEARS, while her family tried IN VAIN to get the Patong police investigating ("they didn’t really take any action" according to the cousin of the missing Rungnapa). Why not? I can think of a motive. I hope you can.

And IF she was "broken up already with her estranged husband", wouldn't that add suspicion to that "estranged husband"?

Stories in other news sources did indicate she had broken up with the police husband already.

Why would they look at him BTW? They found remains in his house, and have a confession with explanations of nearly everything.

His fellow Big Bike Highway Police volunteers are really quite, theyusually have alot to say.

I would love to hear what they have to say.

Cough...ScubaBuddha.

SB has moved some time ago and is not very active here on the forum anymore.

But I'm sure he'll be very surprised by this, and that may be an understatement.

If true, then she married the policeman, had a child and sent the child to grandmothers and left the policeman all within a year or so? Sounds like a rejected husband and father has a motive to me.

So now it has turned to 'he is a police officer and her ex husband, so he must be guilty'.

Admittedly there are not many facts here, but there are some: remains were found on his property, and he has admitted to killing his ex girlfriend.

This article says he is a policeman and husband, you said their ia an article that says he is a newly ex husband. imo I would not put faith in any BIB obtained confession. I would also question any evidence the BIB claimed they found at his house.

A re-enactment has taken place, and he has given more information to the police. Your theory is less and less likely (presuming it was likely at some point).

If true, then she married the policeman, had a child and sent the child to grandmothers and left the policeman all within a year or so? Sounds like a rejected husband and father has a motive to me.

So now it has turned to 'he is a police officer and her ex husband, so he must be guilty'.

Admittedly there are not many facts here, but there are some: remains were found on his property, and he has admitted to killing his ex girlfriend.

A whole YEAR? How is that possible? How is it a police husband would not report her missing for a whole year? Unless he is guilty.

Or unless he did not know she was dead/missing and assumed she was staying with her mother or her new boyfriend just like she told him.

According to another news source is was 'ex husband'. Which would make sense, I have no idea where my exes are, and apparently neither did the police officer here.

Great reporting......

Mrs Rungnapa left Mr Dokset and started a relationship with a new boyfriend, a police officer in Patong. The policeman – who police have yet to name – and Mrs Rungnapa married and had one son, but Mrs Rungnapa sent her son to stay with her family in Surat Thani, Miss Parichat explained.

Mrs Rungnapa, who on marriage stopped using her maiden name Ratsombat and assumed her policeman husband’s family name Suktong, was reported missing one year after she left Mr Dokset, which was more than two years ago, said Miss Parichat.

Is it that questionable NOT to implicate the policeman unless some evidence is found to say otherwise? Why should he be implicated at this point just BECAUSE he was involved with her? He deserves not to be named and kept out of it unless and until he has any additional implications in the crime as it certainly could ruin his life and career unjustly...

I think GeorgeO is simply pointing out that first they say 'we won't mention his name' and 2 sentences later they indirectly say 'his family name is ...'

A whole YEAR? How is that possible? How is it a police husband would not report her missing for a whole year? Unless he is guilty.

Or unless he did not know she was dead/missing and assumed she was staying with her mother or her new boyfriend just like she told him.

That is a bit of a leap. They have a child together. What would that say for a Thai husband and father that is missing a wife and mother of his child? Nobody reported her missing, not her police husband, not her blood relatives, no contact for a year. The husband is always the first suspect in any murder of a wife and it is the majority of the time the correct choice. And the bank would wait a year to repossess her car? I want that bank. She also has two other sons, 12 and 14 years old, old enough to wonder why they have not heard from her in a month, let alone a year. The problem with police confessions, regardless how they get them, is the guilty goes free and the innocent goes to jail for a crime that somebody else did, same thing with plea bargaining. This is not justice, this is just closing the case, justice be darned.

You're accusing somebody else of a leap while you're saying the confession is false and the evidence was planted?

**flame removed*x. Its entirely conceivable a confession was beaten out of him. Why on earth would you dispute that as a valid theory.

I'm ofcourse making the presumptionyou live here.

I'm with Bendix on this one, not a valid theory IMO. Maybe it is on Samui though.

And why would living here have something to with this?

Safety equipment when riding a motorbike is not optional - it's life-saving.

Yes, it is life saving, but when talking about kevlar reinforced jackets and pants not realistic.

O/T but Kevlar strips for reinforcement at spine and elbows/(arms sometimes) have been available in jackets since the early 90's.

Certainly helmets *may* not save your life - but the skull is a very fragile thing, and it doesn't take a large impact to kill if unprotected.

None of this says that the rider was at fault, but I have refused taking my wife for a ride many times unless helmet/boots/jacket are in place - uncomfortable in the heat sometimes, but always worth it. (eternally scared when she insists on jeans instead of proper pants)

Bye the bye - I realised later that that Arai helmet was kevlar and fibreglass - carbon fibre and kevlar was not available until a few years later. (sorry confusing it with a later one I had).

So? I have had kevlar reinforced garments for a long time as well while riding a bike back home.

To expect people to wear helmets here? Maybe possible, but a long way from where we are now.

To expect people to wear kevlar reinforced garments while riding their 100 cc Dream? Is not going to happen.

There are some TV members for whom that will never be enough. A confession will obviously mean that he was tortured in their view. Human remains in his house will obviously be planted..

It's a never ending cycle of 'they're out to get us' paranoia.

Don't forget that in this case a lot of people know the guy, either from TV online or in person. So knowing somebody, or thinking you know somebody, makes things like this quite often more difficult to accept.

Safety equipment when riding a motorbike is not optional - it's life-saving.

Yes, it is life saving, but when talking about kevlar reinforced jackets and pants not realistic.

I passed this accident just after it happened last night, the family were not pulling out from a soi but returning from the temple fair that was happening just up the road, conditions were very wet and this is a very bad part of the road where it instantly turns from 2 lanes traffic to one and people are always racing to get in front as the two lanes become one. Sad sad loss of life, I didn't see the driver of the Nissan but most people were saying that he was a farang driver.

Some paople say that Thailand is quite safe for drivers if you're careful, one thing I know, in all my life I had never seen a dead body after an accident, here though, I see them nearly every week.

With on average on Phuket roads about 4 deaths a week you're surely looking for them then.

Wait, doesn't he have a 4 year old kid? Can't place that in the story, and the kid is not mentioned.