BernieOnTour

3 hours ago, BuaBS said:

Hush money for all drone strikes that killed so many civilians ?

 

If the US cuts aid , then no more US drones over Pakistan.

Shoot them down !

Actually, that might be the real reason for Trump's perception of not getting anything back:

https://www.rt.com/news/412535-pakistan-down-us-drones/

55 minutes ago, tigermoth said:

absolutely not. If our esteemed govt. checks which I am sure they have, the coumntries that allow arbitrary wiretapping are all despot regimes and other countries require a very good reason like indisputable evidence of a possible crime which then has to be decided on by a judge before permission is granted. If not granted but an individual is wiretapped anyway it can not be used as evidence against him or her.

So, you are stating, the USA have a "despot regime" ?

back to the future - with Puigdemont ???

Seems, the Catalans have a short memory - did they already forgot Mister 3%, Jordi Pujol, filling his coffers with every public contract ?

21 hours ago, webfact said:

"When you get a brand new car not everything's perfect, you have to send it back to the garage to get a few things tweaked. This is exactly in that bracket."

No wonder that the famous British car industry (of years long gone) has gone downhill ... ;-)

14 minutes ago, Essaybloke said:

Where are the Thai and Malay officials showing leadership on the 'restive border provinces issue'?

... I wouldn't be sure, Malaysian officials could really contribute a lot.

The Southern Thailand Malays can't even understand their "cousins" in Malaysia and vice versa -  their Jawi dialect is totally different to standard Bahasa Melayu and the script is still an arabic style, whereas Malaysia and Indonesia use Latin script. 

IMHO They are a breed in their own, not only the mountains dividing them from a modern Malaysian ... 

9 hours ago, worgeordie said:

As if a Thai driver is going to claim responsibility for anything.

regards worgeordie

9 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

SPOILER ALERT

 

thai refuses to accept responsibility for their actions. (even though it's patently obvious to everyone who is to blame.)

8 hours ago, mok199 said:

lack of responsibility combined with absence of shame combined with saving face...priceless

Not only Thai are doing that!

Had my last accident, when an older Australian "gentleman" was overtaking with his truck with far too much speed on a lane marked as blocked for traffic and then suddenly changing the lane, crashing in my car.

According to him, it was my fault, because of me speeding and his Farang passenger supported that ...

Luckily, I had a dashcam and even his own insurance agent was literally rolling on the floor, when he saw the video.

I can only recommend to everyone:

Install a webcam and lock the video file after a crash. - The only chance to win against illusionary driver and their witnesses.

New point system:

12 points deducted for vaping, when driving

1 point deducted for killing someone, when driving

;-)

30 BB guns ...Sounds, as if someone set up a quite successful business.

Converting BB guns, hidden behind the temple walls.

I have a long term rent for a Ciaz.

Enormous space for your money with a huge boot and quite comfortable even with 5 passengers.

Under normal conditions and driving European style, the motor is more than sufficient - power comes fast after kick-down and the sports mode of the CVT is easily accessible at the gear stick.

The chassis is acceptable and IMO better than a Vios - I am still waiting for a Thai, who is driving faster on the bendy A1 in the mountains than me with the Ciaz ...

The only shortcoming happens, if you are driving up a really steep, narrow mountain road in the North behind a Lowland-Tyrolean from Bangkok, who is afraid of sharp bends and brakes down to nearly zero km/h. The CVT makes you wonder, if you stall the motor - alas, never happens, only the acceleration is very slow so that you wish, you had a manual gear. However, the same happened with the far smaller Suzuki Swift, I had before - it's a problem of all CVT-type automatic gear.

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The new rule introduced by the NIEMS will prevent FR teams from transporting patients to medical facilities. 

That's the real reason for their resistance ... no "commission" !

The Misses has gotten a clear direction:

- If something happens here in the city, don't call 1669, call the hospital directly, which will come with trained staff and an ambulance car.

- The foundations with their dirty pickups and their "gone medic" motorbiketaxi-drivers will anyway drive as far as it takes to get the highest commission.

On the other hand:

.... might be different on the countryside in Nakhon Nowhere - better someone with low training putting you on their rescue pickup and racing like crazy to the next hospital with trained staff, than 10 people standing around you and doing absolutely nothing (except taking smartphone photos).

P.S.

I assume, a lot of foundations will loose 90% of their "staff", if they do not get commissions anymore.

(Real) Buddhist compassion versus "money, money, money".

@CN1050 

Were you successful in finding a Personal Trainer ?

Any new recommendations?

Seems, Samut Sakhon is paying a high price for being among the top 5 in national GDP... They -and especially their kids and babies- will pay a high price for  those exorbitant Dioxin levels.

Note to myself:

- no locally produced salt anymore

- reduce seafood consumption

... Samut Sakhon has kilometers of lagoons, where they produce sea salt

... Samut Sakhon is the center for trade and processing of seafood

4 hours ago, tso310 said:

I suspect those of us in the small towns and villages may have more positive views and experiences regarding the BIB. The only place my wife had a problem regarding her farang name was getting her Thai driving license. 'We do Thai people first' she was told. Probably expecting some money which she never got. All done in a few hours.

4 hours ago, jaywalker said:

Cop gave my wife a 10,000 baht ticket when a speeding motorcyclist, in the wrong lane, with no insurance and no license ran into her truck.

 

Know why? The cop told her "You have farang name. All farangs have big money".

 

I was in Bangkok, and she was in Pattaya when it happened to boot! A hundred miles away, and all it took was her having a Caucasian name.

5 hours ago, mikebell said:

Had no problems until a year ago.  Then a bent cop decided I was in the wrong when two under-age, licenceless, speeding tear-aways smashed into my stationery car doing 90kph.  Despite arriving ten minutes after the crash, it was the farangs fault.  Thannachart, my 3rd class Insurance company for which I paid first class money, were only too willing to pay them compensation/medical/new bike.

The cop has never interviewed the two boys; threatened to confiscate my passport; threatened me with visa difficulties; took gold off my wife.  I reckon I paid out 80K for a lying, cheating scumbag cop.  So yes - most cops are biased against farangs; ask any bar-owner in Pattaya.

Seems, it also depends where you meet them.

Thailand's Finest at their best in Pattaya, Go Phangan, Hua Hin and other tourist cities, quite relaxed and acceptable in other areas.

I would consider the most threatening point in the statistics above is,

that only 70% of those aware of their HIV positive status are taking antiviral drugs.

As a result, they are potential vectors to spread HIV further.

3 minutes ago, JerseytoBKK said:

What airline has a girl waiting with the pass? I've flown Cathay 8 times and JAL once in business the last 3 years.

That's the usual procedure of the BFS VIP Service.

If you need to get a Visa On Arrival and you aren't not eligible for visa exempt entry, expect to fight first in a queue with dozens of Indians in front of the Visa on Arrival counter ...

Maybe, the VIP Service might help you to get in front of the queue - better check with them before ( * If you have any questions about this service, please email us at [email protected] )

With your ticket and the VoA, you can then proceed to the Immigration Priority Lane, which will save you 20-30 minutes.

If you have only one hand luggage, IMO the buggy cart is not necessary.

... can't help the feeling

you have asked yourself that question,

before buying an apartment. 

7 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

The worst red light jumping is on 2nd road heading North at Klang intersection. I'm very careful to let 4+ cars jump before i go through the green at Klang heading to the beach. Ironically the police are on the corner

6 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

To make any of these fines plausible, there needs to be cops on the roads!

As above, they are on the roads.

... but the smartphones are like a magnet.

Anyway, easier to stop a farang not wearing a helmet ... the Pattaya-Thais might run them over, if trying to stop them, when jumping the red light 

4 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

Bypassed safety mechanism - par for the course in Thailand.  Yes, the Chinese tourists overloaded the lift, but a properly maintained lift would sound an alarm and lock in place until the overweight condition was remedied.  DOSH will of course give the hotel and elevator maintenance company a clean bill of health on this incident which was 100% their fault.  Luckily it sounds like there were only minor injuries.

Made in China? 

6 hours ago, taipan1949 said:

All of them looking at each other thinking "what the hell is that noise???"

Sorry, but you are wrong:

As is usually the case with them, they were yelling so loud at each other that the alarm was inaudible ...

From a non ideological, practical point of view...

Observing the speed, such things are normally done in Thailand, 3 years aren't a lot of time.

- to get the necessary change of laws in place

- identifying procedural changes and improvements, if it should make any sense to bear such huge project cost

- writing down the directives and procedures for that

- ensuring, the agencies have enough manpower

- train the agency staff

- in order not to double HR spending: either transfer Police officers to the agencies or lay off Police officers and hire new staff for the agencies

- ... etc. ...

What's not becoming clear from the news:

Nice intention to reform the public agencies,

  however:

What do they want to achieve with it? What's their vision?

Seems, the Thai Army has a very specific approach to run projects.

... Not impossible that this is only a balloon to frighten the shit out of the RTP to get their homework done.

14 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

The Thai law indicates that a driver needs to turn on their turn signal 60 metres before initiating the turn.

If the car driver had no signal he is at fault or he turned it on just as he was turning- he is at fault -100%

However, if the driver of the car turned on the turn signal within the 60 metre rule and the cycle decided he could pass  on the left anyway- the cycle is at fault 100%.

At this point- unless there are witnesses or a video which clearly shows  whether the vehicle had a turn signal visible so the cycle driver could reasonably see it- everything will be up to the mood of the police and how they want to settle it. If I was the car driver - I would turn the case over to the insurance company and let them settle it- that is why one carries insurance coverage/

... 60m turning signal? 

I saw a traffic law translation, which said 30m .

They do not know their own traffic laws...

On single lane roads: overtaking only allowed on the right.

in a few years that will be a tale of the past ...

more and more people switching to GRAB.

On 11/16/2017 at 7:12 PM, Yahooka said:

 

Build a quality marina incorporating modern shops and hygienic restaurants  ......................

There is already one.

Alas, it's 15km away from Bali Hai - Ocean Marina in Amphoe Sattahip.