realfunster

"Amazing world class experience..." The Colosseum, Parthenon, Macchu Pichu, Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, Eiffel Tower and Grand Canyon will surely be scrambling like mad to release an updated marketing campaign to beat off the challenge from this colossus of a tourist attraction. The scrum of phone-camera waving crowds is enough to put me off.

Am I missing something, if they are COVID positive why wouldn't they be contagious ? I think the evidence is now fairly clear 3 years into COVID and 2 years into vaccines that if you have COVID and are either vaccinated or unvaccinated, you will be contagious...

fis·sip·a·rous /fəˈsip(ə)rəs/ inclined to cause or undergo division into separate parts or groups. "she was unsuccessful in holding a fissiparous membership together"

Simply horrific. What on earth can possibly be going through someone's mind, even in an extreme rage or the worst kind of desperation, to rationalise killing a 3 month old baby. The article says more details coming today and there's no mention of any suspects or ongoing investigation. With the mention of only one bullet being fired, it might sadly be a murder-suicide case.

1) The history of Ford is patchy in Thailand and only included some element of production starting in the late 90s IIRC via the AAT joint venture with Mazda. This was expanded in the early 2000s to include some Everest and Ranger production. Thailand was and is still a secondary market for Ford with the majority of the Ford production at AAT going overseas. In the 2010s a further investment was made which saw a bit more focus on developing the Thai market. This may further change with the new significant investment coming in from Ford. In the 110 years since they "arrived", Ford has acquired 5% market share, with the vast majority of this coming over the last 15 years based on the investments noted above. Ask anyone driving here 10+ years ago how many Fords they used to see at that time ! Nowadays it's not too difficult to spot Rangers and the odd Everest. I'm OK with my previous assessment on Ford's standing and perception by the Thai market. I'm fairly sure Ford couldn't care less, as they obviously have not viewed Thailand as a key market for the past century ! 2) I really have no axe to grind with Ford but you can google Ford Thailand class action lawsuit 2018. Please let me know if you feel that doesn't potentially contribute to "questions lingering in local minds on reliability" vs the rock solid Japanese alternatives.

Oh come on, 490 million views ? Has someone sense/cross-checked this ?

Not to slag off Ford but that is probably part of the issue. I quite like the Ranger but see very few in Bangkok, may be a few more upcountry. It's still a newish and unestablished brand in Thailand. Likely questions still linger in local minds on reliability and convenience/costs of service. Selling the established Japanese brand cars is a lot easier. Many years ago, I yearned for something a bit more interesting than a Japanese car but despite my best efforts to convince myself otherwise I had to admit defeat. For a non-motor head, they offer a very good value and convenience proposition from purchase through to sale.

1) Obviously, as these contraptions are ubiquitous here ! 2) To each their own, I think they are great.

On a separate note, as you have decent salaries, has your Thai company enrolled you in their provident fund ? Up to THB 500k allowed as tax deduction (if you are top rate tax payer = THB 180k tax saving) and the company must match your contribution. If you are leaving within 2-4 years, you would get all your contributions returned but only a % of company contributions. Likely still worth it though. Interested to hear, as some companies tend to be a bit economical with the truth on this, especially with expats on fixed term contracts...

Was that as a foreign couple or is your partner Thai ? Just asking as I have a car loan but I'm fairly sure my (Thai) wife needed to be guarantor.

An interesting take and I share your skepticism. Rarely are things as they seem in LoS. There are many possible reasons but I will note there has always been an uneasy stand-off between the Armed Forces and the Police. It’s quite possible that he is regularly harassing the Police under the protection, or even guidance of the Army/Establishment. I seriously doubt he has gone lone wolf on this, that would be extremely dangerous. Maybe the Army/Establishment are fed up with the Police’s conduct and in typical Thai style, are indirectly letting someone else convey the message. So, ironically, if this theory were to be correct, some of the AN crowd might be cheering on the antics of an Army/Government stooge…sort of a much more amusing and useful version of that idiot Srisuwan.

Sigh - yet another abysmal failure by the Thai judicial and penal systems. I think we have seen quite a few similar cases over the years. He is 34 years old and yet already released after murdering his previous wife- what time did he serve for the worst crime of all ? 6 years, 8 years, 10 years ? What behavioural and psychological assessments were made prior to his release ? RIP to the (2nd) victim.

Whilst I am sure we all want to reduce corruption, be careful what you wish for folks...Thailand is awash with archaic laws, where you may have noticed ridiculous and disproportionate fines/penalties applicable. Relevant for this case, fines for vaping are 4x estimated vaping equipment cost, up to a maximum of THB 100,000. Apparently, a prison sentence of between 1-10 years is also possible.... If the police are suddenly motivated to 'prosecute' to the full extent of the law to maintain their income streams, expect choppy waters ahead. On the other hand, like most things here, this will probably all blow over in a matter of days....and the police will revert back to sensible settlements for most issues in the THB 200-THB 1,000 range. They were getting ridiculously greedy and have been pulled up on it.

That's what I was going to say. I am not a serial cheese "smuggler" but on occasion bring some back and would put in the checked bags for this reason for the 16+ hour trip back from UK. (Door to door). Myself and the good wife found a particularly pungent soft cow's cheese "Stinking Bishop" which we loaded up on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinking_Bishop_(cheese) Had we actually brought that onto the plane, I think we would have caused an aeronautical incident of some sort.

Coffee meet keyboard ????

Yep, I also made the mistake of watching the video. An hour later and I'm happy to report the ear bleeding has just about stopped now.

It's good to familiarise yourself with the common international codes they use. Prefix +69 is a common code at the moment. Once in your phone has the missed call, you can then block the number. Seems they don't use many as I've blocked a couple and that has seemed to work. I was chuckling at the filipino lady comment, seconded. Normally they are the back office for some westerner to sell you a spurious investment opportunity...with those guys I have tried telling them (i) I am extremely poor or (ii) I am a qualified financial professional who self-manages my investments to get them to disappear. I have asked them directly to stop wasting their time for these reasons and remove me from their calling lists.

Just look at the guy - 44 years old ? The daily stress of managing a small car park has obviously got to him. Joking aside, this is obviously a tragic overreaction and incident but overall I do wish Thais would speak up/stand up for themselves more against their "superiors". It seems a societal problem to bottle things up until the explosion comes...

You have my sympathy, sounds irritating ! If most of the fuss is around your house/land development, maybe it will quieten down as things nears completion ? If I understand correctly, the gentlemen is a retired teacher ? This comes with some prestige/status in Thai society and he may be used to barking instructions and getting his own way. If you have a strong and objective feeling he is being unreasonable, I would not expect to be able to suddenly change this behaviour, or indeed at all. I had an insufferable neighbour for several years and discussion, mediation, neighbourhood meetings, some verbal arguments and council involvement did nothing to solve it. Eventually, he moved away. Ultimately, we simply cannot "control" others behaviour unless it is in the realm of criminality, which I don't think this is. I would suggest a couple of options : 1) You find a method to park this away mentally and just accept it for what it is ("let it go"). You had many positive words about the support and friendship in the village, focus on that. He may still continue to be an annoyance but you will be more at peace mentally and physically and may be able to gradually improve relations with your neighbour. 2) Next time he comes out give him the full verbal treatment. No violence of course but give him a strong and direct verbal outburst. In English is fine, he will get the message from your tone, volume and body language. Avoid using the f-word. That might give him a shake up that you are not to be taken as a soft touch and to back off. Of course, there's a fair chance it might also make things worse with him and also lower your standing in the village.... I wouldn't bother with any legal recourse, nothing will come of it accept worse relations with your neighbour.

I am enjoying this one ! Everyone is standing their ground, it will be interesting to see what happens. I keep an open mind. I am intrigued that she claims she has talked to ‘interpol’….

Sad but true…far too often in my central Bangkok locale I catch a clear whiff of some burning going on somewhere nearby.

80. 8-0. Hope there’s enough immigration officers left for Chaeng Wattana and Suvarnabhumi after Big Joke is finished with them ! They should continue to go after the wife of the main perpetrator, who was an immigration police officer herself. One would suspect she played a vital role in making the introductions and this scheme.

Yes, after thinking about this for a few days, I did consider that I see police (in uniform) regularly stationed at office buildings, schools, gold shops etc. No doubt this comes with some monetary compensation. So, it is in fact quite common here. What the actual rules are, who knows. In this case perhaps the apparent use of publicly paid for vehicles is what has contributed to the ire (along with the smug and irritating tourist), hence the deflection on the vehicle ownership in the OP In the UK, for example, uniformed police are available for hire - just look at the footy !

Sigh....don't these clowns at Thai PBS realise how stupid they look when they report something that looks like it was written by an 8 year-old. A 2 second Google informs me that every other English language news source has managed the gargantuan task of actually including 5Fs in the 5F list, with Thai boxing included as "fighting". (Insert puns here...) I can't be arsed to make any comments on the actual strategy itself, in much the same way that Thai PBS can't be arsed to write above an infant school level.

Words fail me. Not a graphic video but if you are easily disturbed I wouldn't watch it. If he had just carried on they would have made it. The driver slowed and virtually stopped directly on the tracks for some reason - perhaps others telling him to be careful or stop (before the tracks....) or just plan panic when he saw the train. Dear oh dear. What an unnecessary waste of life. I note a total absence of physical barriers (I see lights) which seems unusual where trains are passing at high speed. Is that now 2 fatal incidents with train and passenger vehicle collisions in just the past few days ?