13 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

I really don't see what the issues could be. Who wants to go to an embassy when it can all be done from the comfort of a hotel room or at home online?

One thing you need to be aware of is that when a Thai Embassy or Consulate switches to E-Visa, only residents of that country and those with legal residence can make an application.

8 hours ago, brianthainess said:

I agree, unclear how long the delay was for, but that could cause someone to miss a flight for example. 

Hardly, the section that is open isn't very long.

Horrific Bus Fire in Thailand Sparks National Debate on Safety

Yeah right! For how long? Carnage Business as usual shortly.

4 hours ago, PJ71 said:

Says it all really, they've spent all this money on supercars and they want to drive at 60kph.

 

The netizens - FFS.

Well believe it or not, the maximum allowable speed on the section of the M6 that's open is jusy 80 kph. That's 50 mph - on a motorway???  Not that anyone pays attention to it but they might soon.............. last time I was up there (August) a lot of mid height poles were being installed around 500m apart, as the lights are already in, I suspect the poles may be for cameras.

80 kph? - I'll be sticking to the old road thanks.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Bang Pa-in to Nakhon Ratchasima stretch of the M6 motorway.

Stretch? Bang Pa-in to Nakhon Ratchasima is the entire motorway - only the Lam Takhong to Korat 'stretch' is open. Poor reporting as usual.

They have been in discussions on this for 7 years that I know of - probably much longer.  Apparently with a few tweaks Burriram circuit would be up to standard but the location and availability of accommodation put it out of contention.

As I said in an earlier post - if Liberty Media or the FIA get the slightest whiff of corruption, all will be over. I suspect there'll be slightly more than a whiff of it.

Can you imagine the FIA issuing a spec, the Thai's agreeing to it and then building it the 'Thai way'? it would get knocked back at every inspection. They would be totally baffled as to why the 'inspections' can't be sorted out over dinner. They just wouldn't get it - follow a spec? Fully? Correctly? 

FIA, they joking chai mai Somchai?

Given that the Vietnam debut of F1 in 2021was cancelled because of Covid and subsequent plans cancelled (by F1) because a communist party leader, heavily involved in the implementation of Vietnam in the F1 calender, was arrested (then jailed) on corruption charges, I don't think Bangkok's got a hope. Just saying like.

 But I forgot, there is no corruption in Thailand now of course - because the NACC have dealt with it...........................................................

7 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Sounds illegal

See why I didn't want to put it in print now?

20 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Well, excuse me for asking about a claim that you posted on a public forum that would be of interest to a lot of foreigners!   

A Usufruct gives you the right to live in and fully enjoy the use of a property until you die. A Power of Attorney, stating that the registered owner of the property conveys the right to sell the property and retain the proceeds - does just that. The POA needs to be correctly written by a competent lawyer and witnessed.

For those that are married and  wanting to protect their investment, the best method I've seen is to get your wife to agree to you taking a mortgage/legal charge out over the property.  Not all Land Offices will accept a mortgage in a foreign name - mine will. To prevent future problems, anyone going down that route should probably insert a clause that cancels the charge upon your death.

Alternately, the company route is not illegal if that company is actually trading and can show a reason for owning land/property.  Most company 'owned' houses though, are completely illegal.

Using a POA as I described above is legal because it does not convey ownership of the land which as we know, is against the Thai Land Law. The owner remains the same. What they've given over is their financial interest in the property.

20 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Well, excuse me for asking about a claim that you posted on a public forum that would be of interest to a lot of foreigners!   

You're excused. 😁

5 hours ago, LespaulAN said:

As a new expat, I feel that the people in this country don't care about safety in every aspect of their lives is partly responsible for such tragedy. This country has a culture of taking the easy way out, the lazy way mai pen rai. don't care about safety at all. This culture need to change if they want to do better. 

You are correct that there is little concern for road safety but that would be the same in any country where there are few rules or regulations. People only respond to rules, rules that are enforced! Whenever there's a tragedy like this, there's a few days of talk about toughening up the rules and then its all forgotten again - until next time.

Whatever the reason for this accident, it was a minor collision and should not have resulted in a fire.  Questions needs to be asked regarding the safety of any vehicles that run on gas.  At the very least they should be subjected to regular, stringent safety checks.  They may well be but I doubt it and judging by the lax annual safety checks that cars and motobikes have to have each year (after a certain age), any existing checks are probably pretty useless.

I'd also like to know what the rules (if any) in Thailand are about emergency exits on coaches/buses and whether or not this bus complied.  When were they last checked - the norm is every day in most (civilised) countries - they form part of a driver's daily walk round check.

The whole system needs a huge shake-up. From safety checks to driving licences and training but even then, rules need to be enforced.  The public were recently assured that smoking diesel trucks would be dealt with - have they been? Almost every time I go out on the road I see young guys racing around in their modified pick ups - belching black smoke out - obviously the Thai police have eyesight problems. Then again, if all you do is sit in the station all day, you're unlikely to see them. They do quite often set up fundraisers checkpoints to catch those pesky bikers that don't wear helmets though.

How many times do you come across trucks on the highway at night with no/dim rear lights? How do they get away with that?

As you will see in the coming days, this crash will spark debates, new laws will be proposed, then it will all go quiet - nothing will happen.

I wonder if the BBC's Jonathan Head has been hauled over the coals yet for slagging Thailand off.  He was on prime time TV news yesterday calling out Thailand's horrific road safety record (20,000 deaths per year) and the fact that in his 24 years in the country all he's ever seen is successive governments do a lot of talking each time there's a tragedy

What happened to the licence points system?

What happened to the 'Big Bike' licence?

What happened to not sitting in the back of pick up trucks?

Thai governments (any flavour) - talk a lot, do nothing.

Judging by the state I see some cars in, as an ex mechanic I'd love to get a few Thai commercials and buses on the ramp and take a look. I'd take a bet that many of them would be condemned.

20 hours ago, bigt3116 said:

 

Korat is only about 2 hours from BKK, and some places in Isaan are even closer.

By what? Rocket? You'd be hard pressed to get to Korat city in 2 hours from Bangkok - even with clear roads and a Ferrari. The speed limit is 80 kmh most of the way and its well camera'd.

However, my place is in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) province - on a good day I do Suvarnabhumi to home in around 2.5 hours including a coffee and fag stop. Korat city is another 45 minutes, at least

Two hours may be possible to my place if they ever get around to finishing the M6 and its claimed that the new High Speed Train will take just 55 minutes to Pak Chong - an hour and 15 minutes to Korat I'm told.

On 9/30/2024 at 4:22 PM, Celsius said:

 

which is also 2.5 hours from Bangkok.....in Isaan

Geography is clearly not your strong point.  There are differing accounts of Isaan's borders but it is generally held that it begins around Muak Lek.  My house between Khao Yai and Pak Chong is certainly well within Isaan's territory.

On 9/30/2024 at 3:31 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

Which route did you choose to be able to buy a house in your own name?  

How I own my house is my business and I'm not about to post how on here - inviting all the armchair lawyers to tell me I'm wrong. I most certainly didn't use the company route though.

What I will say is that I've had the house for 10 years this month and I'm perfectly happy that I can do what I want with it - including sell it. All done in a lawyer's office with witnesses present.

6 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Even the dingiest little testing places are online. They do the check and put it straight into the system. You can just go home and pay the tax online. If you haven't paid the compulsory insurance, you will also be given the chance to do that before you can pay the tax. The disc gets sent by registered mail.
 

Yes but the OP is having problems - just go to the DLT, job done!

OP by the time you've posted and replied to everyone on here, you could have renewed your tax at the local office.

35 minutes ago, LennyW said:

If you have the insurance and the blue book, just take that to one of the offices with the blue and yellow sign, pay and get your book and new tax back in about 2 days, i just did mine last week, so simple and quick both days.

2 days? If you go to the LTO you get it on the spot.

What do you mean 'Registration Renewal' ?  Once the car is in your name, you don't have to renew your registration.

If you are refering to paying the annual tax and renewing the compulsory insurance - just go to your local Land Transport Office and do it.  Depending on the age of the car, you may have to go there anyway - if it needs a safety check, you clearly can't do that online.

36 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Massive Positive - at least you didn't built a house in Isaan.

And why's that?

I bought a house in Isaan - great location - 2.5 hours from Bangkok and no Thai wife.

Had it 10 years this month, no monthly fees, on site car parking, maintenance I do when necessary, no committees, normal electricity and water fees + its doubled in value, not that I have any intention of selling it.

Do it right, you're absolutely fine - buy one with your Thai wife on 'family land' in the village, then yes, I tend to agree. Just renenber, we are not all 'lovesick puppies' building that 'rural idyll, dream house' in Nakhion Nowhere with our 'teerak'.

I could rattle on for ages but I've seen this behaviour before and the marriages didn't last long. From what you say, it sounds like there's only one person in your 'marriage'.

If you could read Thai and get hold of her phone, you'd soon get to the bottom of this but I don't think you'd like what you'd see. I'm not suggesting you actually look at her phone - just giving you my two penneth and forming an educated guess at what it contains.

There are married Thai women living in the UK on Thai dating sites - not saying your wife is, just advising how devious they are.

Long story short, cut your losses now - IF she comes back from Thailand and depending on your circumstances, its likely to cost you more in the long run. I'd drop her at the airport and tell her not to bother coming back but she may be planning that already.

On 9/23/2024 at 10:16 AM, motdaeng said:

 

isn't it the duty of a new prime minister to do a better job than their predecessor? in my opinion, this includes addressing and correcting injustices and mistakes made by the previous government. try avoiding responsibility for events that happened in the past (even just six months ago) clearly shows the kind of ethics this person has – none at all, as the whole thaksin family ....

Oh yeah? And just how do you expect her to spill the beans on her father - massive conflict of interest.

25 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Yet Trump and the GOP continue to push back on requirements for deeper background checks and more restrictions on high-powered weapons that have no value when it comes to hunting and are not required for protecting the home. So what are they used for?

 

Does the GOP and does Trump support mass shootings? 

Come on, you know they are special. Americans must have guns, the country is different to any other place on earth. We don't need guns in the UK for example because we have no crime - or at least our crime is different to crime in the USA 😀.

I don't know about high powered weapons - there is no justification for owning any type of firearm - ouside sport.  Simply being in possesion of a gun makes it much more likely that it will be used unnecessarily  and used with fatal results.

Testosterone fuelled youths for eaxmple - at one time would have had a scrap on a Friday night out. Now, they shoot each other.

On 9/19/2024 at 4:58 AM, webfact said:

On September 18, a petition was submitted, urging Paetongtarn to reveal the truth regarding her father's hospital stay. The petition demands a full and transparent disclosure of the evidence, including CCTV footage, that purportedly documents Thaksin's activities in the hospital's private ward. Thaksin was granted an unusual six-month stay in a ward generally off-limits to other convicts.

The lengths some will go to to try and get rid of a PM they just don't want never fail to amaze me. I have no love for any of the Thaksin family but the current PM was not in office when these events took place. 

It is inconceivable that Thaksin invented his 'illness' by himself - the 'events' that took place were clearly carried out with the knoweledge of and probably facilitated by, those in power at the time. Given the fiasco surrounding the election, the denial of the election winner's ability to take control and the eventual demise of Move Forward, its quite clear why Thaksin never spent a single night in prison. The deal was done well before he returned to Thailand - you don't need a degree to work that one out.

Starting with his transfer to hospital without even smelling the inside of a prison cell, even 5 year old could see that it was just a charade. Why is Paetongtarn being asked to reveal  the truth about events facilitated by others - some at the very top I might add?

In the words of another 5 year old, but this time they are truthful - its a Witchhunt!

The Thai Government's activities would make a good TV series - a children's TV series.

54 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Buy to let is an abomination that makes purchasing out of reach for normal people

Sorry, don't agree. 'Buy to Let' may have had a small effect on house prices but the difficulties faced by people trying to get on the housing ladder are faced in many countries where the 'Buy to Let' phenomenon doesn't exist.

The problem is really a factor of capitalist societies that create have's and have not's through massive pay differentials - value to the company determines pay rather than the amount of work pout in - etc. etc. A cleaner, for example, might earn 10% of the salary that a manager gets but both are essential to run the company. In the UK, for example, we pay nurses, on average - £37,000 p.a. whilst a hospital manager can expect to earn an average of almost £56,000 - which member of staff can the hospital do without?

https://www.nurses.co.uk/careers-hub/nursing-pay-guide/

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/hospital-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,16.htm

You should not forget that Buy to Let landlords (and yes, I am one of them) have provided homes for people who would previously have rented from their local authority (council houses). Council houses are in extremely short supply these days as many have been bought by their tenants under Thatcher's (much abused) Right to Buy scheme.

Where would people live if there were no 'Buy to Let' homes?  The councils have sold much of their stock off and very few new council homes are being built.  The answer to that question is very likely to be answered in the coming few years as many 'Buy to Let' landlords get out of the business.  I'm selling up, as are others that I know of - we are sick and tired of unfair tax changes and new regulations.

Did you know for example that HMRC now treat the entire rental income from a 'Buy to Let' as profit, regardless of whether the landlord has a mortgage to pay on the property?  You can buy a box of Apples for £5 and sell it for £10 and HMRC see your income as £5.  Receive £1000 in rent from a property but pay £500 in mortgage interest - your real income is £500 but under the new rules, HMRC calculate your income as £1000.

It will be interesting to see how this and future governments deal with the shortage of properties for rent that these new rules and regulations create.