Boater

Two dead - including pilot - and nine injured as helicopter hits crane on new tower beside Thames and plunges into rush-hour traffic

• Helicopter hit crane at top of The Tower St George Wharf in central London today and cartwheeled before exploding
  
• Struck ground 20 yards from Vauxhall station and area is being evacuated because of precarious position of crane
  
• Two people died and at least nine injured - one critically - in crash involving helicopter flying to Elstree, Hertfordshire
  
• Plume of smoke visible at 8am with bystanders saying weather was bad and you could 'hardly see top of building'
  
• Eyewitnesses saw 'a flash and helicopter plunged to the ground' and said 'people were screaming after it crashed'
  
• London Fire Brigade: Eight fire engines and four fire rescue units and around 88 firefighters plus officers attended
  
• Air Accidents Investigation Branch begins investigation to establish if proper procedures were followed by pilot
  
• London's Counter Terrorism Command confirms there is 'nothing to suggest any terrorism link' at this stage
  

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2I8gDVSbl

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Fuji ?

I have only ever see the men in the strip joints , bangkok even has its own Soi dedicated to Gogo bars for the japenese

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Bloody scum , why does the airport not stop this and have a proper service like bangkok airport ..

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The Police will not do much unless there is some kind of payment involved.

Any one heard about when he was last seen, what he was wearing?

If he did leave Thailand then he will have filled out the departure card, if still in Thailand then trace of his telephone number might be required, but again for the police to do that a cash incentive might be required.

If the embassey gets involved the police to move pretty quickly , and with the current bad press on Brits in Thailand already , they will hopefully step there game up and at least trace his last steps or attempt tomfind him

This event is also slightly similar to the American in phuket who went missing , did they find him ?

Only worrying part was the email regarding he wasmin trouble , was there more to it ? Did he borrow money ? Promise to do ajob for someone and didn't ? Pissed off a bar girl ? ....

Anyway, hope he is found safe and well , but to any expat reading here , if you do get into trouble , contact the embassey or lumpini police station , believe me they are there to help and they do ! ( there is English police staff at lumpini police station who are purly employed there to assist Brits and any other foreigner )

"Between 2000 and 2010, 124,855 people were killed in road traffic accidents in Thailand, meaning that on average there were over 12,000 deaths a year from road traffic accidents during this period."

http://www.brentwood...e_greater_care/

The total is actually more or less 134,474 but that aside, we better follow the official statistics from the WHO (World Health Organisation) in this link* and not a weekly from the UK although the parents are 100% correct if they say that travellers should take better care, but what does one do when a (Thai or Lao) driver is insane and drives like a total maniac :

* http://www.thaiwebsites.com/caraccidents.asp

Although the AVERAGE is high, the actual death number in Thailand is declining according to the statistics.

However, if one reads that 10 people are killed in ONE accident between 2 cars, one wonders if that's true...

You spoke to soon laopo , 10 dead , 2 cars today -

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I can't think of the last time I saw fog in Koh Samui. However 50% of the cars I drive past seem to have fog lights on?

Advice for drivers who drive with their fog lights on you don't look like Colin McRae (once did) you look like a cretin.

Having your windows completely blacked out has the same effect as heavy fog regarding the drivers visabilty

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You could try Thaivisa classifieds or baht sold ? I was advertised something on Thaivisa classifieds and got about 15 enquires !

Also there is a garage on the ring road between Tesco lotus and samui estate office that seems to give a fair price on trade in cars

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There is also a samui weather blog , he adds what the weather is doing everyday , he will have records of last July

http://samui-weather.blogspot.co.uk

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I think the only branch is in Tesco

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Just one more point to make, with saynthe uk death toll , a lot of deaths are due to weather conditions , ie heavy fog, black ice , snow , and rain .....

During the summer here , the roads are generally fine ... But come winter , there are a lot of crashes ... Which say samui doesn't suffer from this , ie a majority of crashes in samui are from drunk driving , say 80% compared with maybe 5% in uk

If samui ever wanted to bring there figures down , all they would need to do is implement a drink driving campaign ,

As per the above post , yes the papers are censorsered , which is a shame , I still recall the owner of the samui express was threaten by the police when they wanted tonpublish photos of kevins death a couple of years back , they did a good investigation and had photos of his bodynto prove he was attacked and showed the defense marks on his hand to prove he wasnbeaten to death then dumped inmthe lake , but the owner saw there lifemwas more valuable then proving a murder

Back on topic , the original op is incorrect of the forigne death statistics , that we all know , but in whole the death rate could be correct , but no one will really know as they hide the figures

As rob , myself and a few others here that spend a few hours of the day on the road wil, know 60 deaths a month , including those who die in hosptiatl could be correct , remember e island is bigger then Bophut and lamai ! , plus most deaths occur during the night due to drink driving when most Thaivisa members are tucked up in bed and don't witness the carnage on the roads in the wee hours

I would bet a lot of money to the people that don't believe the stats , gomout one night between 11pm - 3 am and in bet you wil, see at least 4 crashes , and 1 death ... Plus Likley you will be involved in a few near miss us yourself

HUGE exaggeration springs to mind.

5 deaths/day on Phuket, and

2 deaths/day on Samui

That's an astonishing, tragic and sensational number of 2,555 deaths/year due to motorbike accidents on the 2 islands alone?

Shall we add the number from Pattaya as well; maybe a few in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai/Rai...

Really?

Maybe some can recall the exaggerations of bystanders and hear-say if an accident happens...

the guy has a broken leg

one hour later he broke both legs and was hospitalized.

The next thing is that he's on IC with 2 broken legs, a broken back, serious head inhuries...

and 2 hours later..

he died.

Next day, he was sitting in a bar and a friend asks him: "Hey I heard you died?"

exaggeration

Not the kind of thing to joke about , as the exact above happened to a friend due to a blood clot from a broken leg ..

Maybe someone could ask the samui rescue how many road crashes a day they are called to ? You would be very surprised !

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Oh, Boater, I'm NOT joking about it; on the contrary!

I was talking about the exaggeration of the one who said that he heard there were 60 TOURIST deaths per MONTH on Samui due to motorbike accidents.

It's far from a joke and I'm not the person to make easy jokes about deaths.

Just heard last night about a loved one who died

I've lost too many people in the past few years already to make jokes about death!

You misunderstood my post; sorry about that!

No worries ...

But as rob mentioned , anyone who believes 60 deaths a month on samui roads are are made up , clearly hasn't spent enough time in the roads here ... I they where 30 deaths a month years ago with 3rd of the traffic, and 10 times worst drivers , the states seem clear

But 1 thing to note , it's everyone that 60 includes , not just foreigners

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This topic has bee raised again and again!

Just search through the forum

• Road deaths are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.
  
• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Koh Samui (official figures released each month).
  
• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).
  
• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.
  

• Based on ‘official figures’ today it is possible to estimate that Koh Samui currently has 60 deaths per million per year. (Compared to 23 in London.)
  

• Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality 720 deaths per million per year. This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world.
  

Samui is a fatality death spot that nobody is willing to acknowledge!

I love the place. it's my home and has been for almost 15 years. But it can't be denied!

R

I think rob nailed it on the head !

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HUGE exaggeration springs to mind.

5 deaths/day on Phuket, and

2 deaths/day on Samui

That's an astonishing, tragic and sensational number of 2,555 deaths/year due to motorbike accidents on the 2 islands alone?

Shall we add the number from Pattaya as well; maybe a few in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai/Rai...

Really?

Maybe some can recall the exaggerations of bystanders and hear-say if an accident happens...

the guy has a broken leg

one hour later he broke both legs and was hospitalized.

The next thing is that he's on IC with 2 broken legs, a broken back, serious head inhuries...

and 2 hours later..

he died.

Next day, he was sitting in a bar and a friend asks him: "Hey I heard you died?"

exaggeration

Not the kind of thing to joke about , as the exact above happened to a friend due to a blood clot from a broken leg ..

Maybe someone could ask the samui rescue how many road crashes a day they are called to ? You would be very surprised !

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In the five years I have now lived in Thailand, (plus several trips before) I have never witnessed an accident that involved a death and can probably count on two hands the number of accidents I have seen, involving the usual scrapes.. or perhaps broken arm or leg...

Right now, with a lot of dry sand on the roads, one needs to be wary of these patches... they can be very slippery... extra caution needed...

You must not get out much jimmy , in 7 years I have driven past maybe 100 crashes , maybe 10 fatal , and was never even on the roads a lot

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i'm sure it's 60 accidents involving tourists per month out these 60 certainly a few of them unfortunately die....

Agree , on the accident side

But overall including Thais ect , the figure could be 60 .... As the figure for Phuket I quoted was including Thais

It is a shame they don't keep an accurate record

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Once speaking to an officer in phuket at the police station there , he commented there was on average 5 deaths per day , 150 a month in phuket , so 60 in samui could be about right if they include deaths in hospital and after the crash

Some days in samui , on a short drive I coul pass upto 3 crashes , and that is in a 3 km radius in 10 mins

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Interesting ! But this topic will be shut soon as you cannot link from pw

Really? Unjustifiable censorship if it is.

It is after all a news story about Samui.

Same with bkk post and Andrew Drummond .. Rules are rules

Maybe another paper has the same story ?

Interesting ! But this topic will be shut soon as you cannot link from pw

I do believe the bit about being most interested in the hospital bill being paid though!!

Why are the police interested in the hospital bill?

I was in the police station as the same time as this guy , and was helping him out with the stubborn tourist police ..

Basically bkk samui hospital had overcharged by 500,000 thb or similar and the insurance company would not pay up the full amount as they thought was a scam and they where holding his passport

Also to note which is not in the report , it WAS NOT a Thai that knifed him ... As he clearly gave out the description off the offender but the police where not to bother to arrest the guy

Unfortunately some hotels are starting to 'play tough'. ie No access under any circumstances.

Usually if you spend some money at the resrt (drinks, food etc) - they would let you go through.

There are public access points though. eg end of the one way system. Chewang Noi etc

Or you can access via ark bar or the passage next to tropical murphys .... Both places don't really mind if you walk through

Not sure if discussed before, but can anyone advice if the access to the beach (by passing a resort/hotel) is legally allowed? Or can those resorts/hotels block people going to the beach?

They can block you going through the hotel as private property , but you can still use the beach ...

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That is why most countries ban travel in pickup trucks ....

Do you really think he would say there isn't enough juice to power the island ? And the report is based on all 3 working ... How many times have the cables broke ?

They also haven't mentioned all the power cuts due to broken power lines ect on the island , which is also an eyesore ... Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to put all the power cables underground ? Would certainly reduce the amount of blackouts