pistonpilot

Good Thread, and good idea re the multiple bank accounts.

Since we're in a strange political post coup situaiton, a few different banks is a good idea.

What documents do you need to open an account.

I am in Pattaya and want to open a personal account, with internet banking and ATM.

I got a biz 12 month visa. and work permit coming soon.

Though I would like to open an account this week if possible.

I hear at the moment Kasikorn is farang friendly right now.

From what I hear, Kasikorn and Bank Ayudhya are very friendly and easy to setup.

Hi

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned a common practice that makes my blood run cold every time I see it.

Thats a young mum riding a motorcycle with one hand on the throttle and the other clutching a young child.

This is not a case of breaking a law it is just downright irresponsible, have they no maternal instincts

or are they just plain unaware of the stupidity of what they are doing? Unfortunately they are often accompanied by another child or more on the pillion who are also at risk.

As with all the undesirable driving habits this is not going to change overnight but a start has to be made somewhere and education that protects young children who are in no position to protect themselves is a good place to start.

Perhaps this might discourage them from subjecting their own offspring later on, should they be fortunate enough to live that long!

TBWG

Yes, this sort of behaviour is extremely stupid and I have seen it many times.

What is just as stupid is the fact that the police seem to turn a blind eye to children, obviously well under the legal driving age, riding mc/s in traffic. It seems to be the norm for the eldest child in the family to do the 'school run'. I'm not joking when I say that I've seen six children on a m/c, coming home from school, the eldest of whom may have been as old as ten years. Possibly younger as he could barely touch the ground with his tip-toes!

I can't imagine what on earth the parents are thinking when they condone, or possibly encourage, this behaviour. When I point out the stupidity of it all to the GF - danger to life and limb, no training, no insurance, no licence - she just takes the mai pen rai attitude and says 'up to him'. This is fairly typical as, after two years, she will only very reluctantly wear a crash helmet or a seat belt. These are, apparently, only relevant where there are police about - no thoughts about safety whatsoever.

DM

You cannot turn a blind eye when you are not looking in the first place.

How many times have you looked into the policebox only to see the "protector" with a newspaper or watching the TV.

Why are there TV's in police boxes?

I have a Fortuner and I drive it like I have a Tank, anything smaller better get out the way, especially motorcycles and Mitsubishi pick ups.

A Fortuner with red plates killed two Thais on a motorbike. The accident happened on Thepprasit Road the other night.

Yours?

There is no real law here. Now I come from the USA and there is no real law there either, but it is at least a bit more consistent. Where else can one go to get police help and also get robbed, than at a thai police station?

You're kidding with this question, right? The Range Rover is a piece of crap that will be in the shop all the time.

I have friends who own them.

On the other hand I have owned several Lexus. Nothing is as close to perfection as a Lexus.

From what I have seen the driving is dangerously poor around the whole of the country, I don't think anyone is better or worse in different areas, the road conditions of the area just dictate different kinds of dangerous driving.

There are some Thai's I know who are good drivers, certainly better than some farang I know here although I must say I know more decent farang drivers here than Thai and I know many more Thai's than farang.

One observation I have made is the longer farang stay here the worst their driving seems to become.

I hope this is not true. I will continue to drive the way I drove in the USA. It's what keeps me from running them over.

From what I have seen the driving is dangerously poor around the whole of the country, I don't think anyone is better or worse in different areas, the road conditions of the area just dictate different kinds of dangerous driving.

There are some Thai's I know who are good drivers, certainly better than some farang I know here although I must say I know more decent farang drivers here than Thai and I know many more Thai's than farang.

One observation I have made is the longer farang stay here the worst their driving seems to become.

I fully agree.

Also, forgetting road rules & regulations, Thais (generally) seem to have rather poor driving technique. For example, they don't seem to have the concept of "assisted braking" (using the gears to help with speed reduction). I've also noticed that many Thais who are driving manual vehicles up steep inclines, will not willingly change back through the gears (to maintain adequate horsepower output) until the engine is well & truly labouring.

Strangely, a Philipino mate of my'n who lives in Thailand, drives in exactly the same way. Every time he lifts his foot off the throttle, he depresses the clutch pedal. I have no idea why he does this...it makes no sense. He will do this about 10 times per kilometre. He also "rides" the clutch at traffic lights etc & then complains about the vibration (clutch shudder) upon taking off.

I think that getting a driving license should be as difficult & expensive as getting a pilots license, complete with the biennial medical checks.

Interesting. I have a pilot's certificate. In the USA a 16 year old can fly a plane solo with no minimum of hours in the air.

Your mate is cheap, that's why he uses the clutch the way you describe. I thought you like the way the Thais drive. No one showed them how to drive a manual gearbox, I'm sure the replacement of gear components here is high.

That explains why I used to pass so many poofs going up Buddha Hill on my motorbike.

Great.

Roger WILKO - and out.

Interesting how you prefer to change the topic while totally ignoring the question.

Now if you would like to know if I am a troll, or would like to post information backing up that statement, then start a new thread.

The statement remains. Farangs and Thais drive horribly in Pattaya. Let me make this clearer for you as you seem to beg to be spoon fed information.

Pattaya - Bad Drivers

Bangkok - Crazy drivers, but not bad drivers.

Rest of Thailand - quite relaxed.

Now what don't you understand?

How about this. Thais and Farangs in Pattaya drive horribly. Anyone care to disagree?

Any suggestions / addresses / phone #'s would be greatly appreciated...

Pianoman

Is that "fan" looking device at 12 O'Clock part of the propulsion?

It ought to be sensitive, it's Garmin. I relied upon mine for aviation - never let me down.

For aviation it needs 4 satellites but should only need two or three for yours. It has to be able to see the satellites. I see where you place it, does it come with an external antenna?

Who said the American intellect was superior? I didn't, although I know it to be true.

Bite me.

Doesn't matter anymore, I'm used to it. I stopped reaching for the non-existent shoulder belt that hangs midair on my left, and now I reach right.

Turn signal is natural too.

What is not natural is how close I come each day to killing some dumbass Thai who doesn't give a shit about whether they live or die.

When I see a 30 year old Thai doing stupid things on a bike, I wonder how they have lasted so long.

On the contrary, I think things are generally very right here in the LOS...especially driving. To come to this conclusion, I firstly realise & accept an irrefutable fact...NOTHING can be forecast & therefore NOTHING can be controlled. Secondly, apply the reverse logic that if there are no rules (which there really aren't...anywhere in the world), one will generally be more aware of their immediate situation & hopefully not be complacent. Conversely, rules make us lazy & also give us a way to avoid REAL responsibility.

Conclusion:

enforcing western style thinking & rules would ultimately destroy the wonderfully FREE place that Thailand currently is.

Oh, one more thing...we are all going to die. None of us will ever have any control over when, how, where or why, although some of us might foolishly believe that we can control our ultimate fate.

Live & let live. Live & let die.

Do you belong to that class of scum I like to call the "free Farang" You know the type, they come here and have a little bit of money, buy a big car, and then tailgate some poor bastard on a motorbike just because the Thais do it.

They become a lawless, gutless, bully driving their big SUVs pushing some little girl off the road. These scumbag Farang know better, they were taught better and yet they revert to the animal they really are. Are you one of them?

I hope you meet me one day, just try doing that to me. Ask the german piece of crap who last did that to me. I was on a bike but we both ended up at the same place. He wasn't such a big man when he got out from behind the wheel. He was bigger than me, but he wasn't such a big man when had to face me on foot.

Your last sentence says it all. Let me tell you something, I choose my fate and I have control of my fate. You can be sure that my daughter won't get hung over the side of the bike waiting for someone to break her neck just because "we have no control."

I'm sure if I met you I would take an instant dislike to you and make sure you never came near any of my children.

It all boils down to morality. Where is yours?

Arrogant statements like "we keep you alive" don't endear the USA to the rest of the world.

Especially when linked to a glaring ignorance of diesel pickups!

If you have airbags (the vehicle not you) it will be written on the wheel and you will have a warning light(Red) that comes on when you turn the key, there is also a light (yellow) for the ABS, both these go off after a few seconds of engine run. I would be very surprised to hear you don’t have both....is the model a 4dr 4wd Grandis?

I'd be very surprised if you didn't have both.

BTW - diesels don't have catalytic converters. In essence, when you burn diesel the result is carbon and water or something like that. Problems with diesel arise from additives and particulates, but in general they are much more eco-friendly than petrol - just because you can't see pollution doesn't mean it's not there!

As for the fuel consumption, you will dramatically improve that figure of 18 if you use the UK gallon as opposed to the US gallon, or if you want to talk the language of the rest of us.......do it in KM to litres!

How the US ever put someone on the moon using the old empirical measuring systems is beyond me.......

We do keep you alive. When whatever country you come from can claim the most R&D on drugs, then you can make that statement.

That you don't like it? Too bad. Maybe clear thinking is also decidedly American - you'll have to explain how you linked diesel engines to important things such as keeping you alive with drugs, and putting men on the moon.

Oh that's right, the rest of the world has just be going like gangbusters with their space program, making you all too busy to do things like invent drugs to make people live longer and happier lives.

You're all too busy sitting around campfires discussing diesel engines. Hogwash.

I don't have airbags and I don't have ABS. It's a 2004 4X4 Offroad Strada Grandis with a 2.8 liter turbodiesel. That's it. I've got drum on the back and disc up front.

I guess Paw wasn't thinking about safety, he was more concerned with decking it out with every Buddha statue and hanging item he could get in it.

I still have to remove a huge decal he placed on the middle of the rear window.

It is not 4WD.

Why be able to see behind you when you're Thai? Waste of time as they don't give a shit.

I'll borrow someone's baby and use it as an airbag - just like the Thais.

After we bought our first car in Bangkok my Thai wife took delight in pointing out my 'mistakes': I was driving too fast, too slow, not in the correct lane, too close to the car beside me, etc. It got to the point where if I had to go somewhere in BKK where I had never been before I would ask one of her friends to be the navigator. Now that I have the Garmin I can do it alone.

My question to farangs: Do their Thai wives make more assertive backseat drivers than their farang counterparts?

Tell us more about the Garmin, how do you use it here and what are its limitations? I own a Garmin GPS for aviation - Garmin is the best but what kind of database do they have for Thailand? Does it cover the whole country?

Well, I have a US Pilot Certificate and US drivers license and my wife has not a license for motorbike or car and yet she thinks she knows how to drive better than me.

I always shut her up by stopping the car, and telling her to get out and drive it herself.

Someone will please tell me how to get her to look for traffic? Tonight I pulled out on Sukumvhit from soi where a truck was parked to my left. I almost ran over a Thai dumbass (women) on a motorcycle who was coming from the wrong direction. I told my wife her one job was to look left all the time and warn me about motorbikes.

What is about these people that makes them drive so stupidly? Why do they want to die?

After a week of driving 175km I just put gas in the tank. It took 22.5 litres.

I did the math and this comes out to 18 mpg which is pretty good for a 6000 pound truck with a huge turbodiesel engine.

I'm pleased.

Turns out my 2.8 is a turbodiesel. The winding sound I hear at 2000 rpm is the turbo kicking in, and to get rid of the grumble it makes I just give it some more gas - it moves.

I took it to Mitsubishi after my dog ate the truck. It is a turbo, but no ABS brakes and I'm not sure if I have an airbag or not. No symbol on my steering wheel but it has the round bulge typical of airbags.

Of course, if I want a real Thai airbag, I'd borrow someone's baby and lash it to the steering wheel.

PP

Do try to not forget that most drug R&D is done in the uSA.

We keep you alive.

I saw a Thai man poison one of my dogs last night.

He drove by on a motorcycle, dropped a poisoned chick leg in front of him (The Dog).

Before I could get to the Dog to stop him from eating it, it was too late.

This was on wonderful animal. He was known and loved by everyone around here.

We got the cops up here and many witnesses. I can't let this go. I loved that mutt.

I emailed the Thai ASPCA already and will file a police report today. It might get

touchy because I'm a Farang. The thing is all the Thai's here are outraged.

Can anyone give my any advise or information about how to legally follow this up.

I have attached his picture. His name was "Guy"

Thanks in advance.

Invite the man to dinner to settle your differences.

Serve him chicken.

PP

Shifting to a higher gear at 2000 rpm, the turbo probably never even kicks in, especially since you're probably not putting your foot down (less than half throttle). This is funny: my little non-charged motorcycle engine idles around 1200 rpm, and I try to keep it between 4000 and 10,000 at all times. And it's a four-stroke with very mild camshaft!

Are you able to translate the above into American English?

The "higher" pitch sound happens at 2000 rpm. I though the same as what you wrote, but I'm thinking now, that it is a turbo.

I'll find out tomorow.