JonnyF

What a kind, selfless gesture to his children, the people of Thailand. He really is all heart.

It says a lot about the country that the National Anti-Corruption Commission can itself be bought off.

Given the status of the males on the boat, I predict a conclusion of accidental death followed by someone dressed in brown making a trip to the Benz showroom.

When I met the mother of a previous Thai girlfriend she (the mother) started asking about when we would get married and how much the dowry would be. Since her Mother didn't speak English and I didn't speak Thai at the time, I told my girlfriend very politely (but deadly serious) to tell her that dowry is not a part of my culture, but that in my culture the father of the bride pays for the wedding and the honeymoon and that I'd like to go to The Maldives for 2 weeks. I'm pretty sure she didn't translate that to her mother but either way the conversation moved on to other subjects quickly enough.

A lot of homeless in that area. I walk between soi 7 and 15 quite often early in the morning and they're all sleeping in the doorways or begging under the BTS steps. Looks like it might be one of those guys.

7 of which continue to drive while suspended.

Thailand made it onto the 'No Cajones' list. Well done.

I've read that 10 times and I still don't understand it. If you read as well as you write, it's not surprising you completely misunderstood my post ????. If you want to fly half way around the world to smoke a joint under a coconut tree (and probably get arrested as it's not actually legal) then go for it. I look forward to the GoFundMe. ????

She was never going to miss such a huge opportunity for publicity. I'm only surprised it took her this long. I wonder when Dr Yong will be along?

Weed is pretty much decriminalized in the UK now (as long as you only have enough for personal use). If caught smoking it most cops will just confiscate it. So I don't see much point flying half way round the world to smoke a joint in a third world country with ambiguous laws and a corrupt police force that could use that ambiguity to extort thousands of pounds from you under the threat of years in a Thai jail. If they made the laws crystal clear and opened perfectly legal, stylish Marijuana cafe's on the beaches then that would be different but this is Thailand so laws are not designed to be crystal clear as that removes opportunities for extortion. Expect lots of FaceBook posts and GoFundMe's from dreadlocked backpackers locked up and 'fined' for misunderstanding the laws and rolling a fat one in Thong Lor.

I've done similar rides along the side of, or over the khlongs in Bangkok but I'm not so good with heights so there would have to be a VERY good reason for me to ride over that. If I had to do it, I'd do it pretty fast and I certainly wouldn't be looking left/right/down.

I think she means "No-one should be able to take your rights away from you". Because if the last 2 years has taught us anything, it's that governments can take away our rights, indeed our basic freedoms very easily. Sadly, once the fear has been amped up to a sufficient level, the majority roll over to have their tummy's tickled with barely a murmur.

Sounded like Putin was handing out free versions of Android (6.0 MarshMallow, 7.0 Nougat etc.)

A few of my Thai friends have elderly parents that refuse to take the vaccine. Generally they are afraid of the side effects of the vaccine due to other health issues like Diabetes. One got very sick from the first one and now refuses to take it again despite being cajoled by their son and daughter. It's available, they just don't want it. Very unwise IMO, but ultimately their body their choice.

Mid April? An interesting choice of date. More ground work for cancelling Songkran unless we're good little comrades. Reminds me of my parents threatening Santa wouldn't come when I was misbehaving as a kid. This paternalistic attitude from a government that stole power down the barrel of a gun is really galling.

I hadn't really noticed. Farang food/drink has always been expensive here, I gave up comparing it to UK prices years ago. An extra 10 or 15 Baht here and there doesn't really register but I've found the longer I am here the less I crave farang food anyway, apart from my obligatory Sunday roast at the local Irish Pub washed down with a few draught pints I'm not that fussed. The only thing I noticed was the cost of filling up the car. For the first time a few weeks ago it was over 2000 Baht to fill it up but I'm fortunate in that I don't pay for that. If people are really struggling they could turn a negative into a positive and try not drinking for a few days every week and eating less. Or maybe eat local food that is still cheap here and also pretty healthy like Chicken, fish, eggs, bananas etc. Save money and improve your health at the same time.

The way they talk, it's like lockdown is the default position and if we work very hard we will be allowed Freedom. It's ridiculous. The only real cause for concern was that a lot of the early vaccines were Sinovac (thanks Anutin!) which appears to be less effective and protect for a shorter period of time so these people should get boosted with a proper vaccine and then we all learn to live with it like the rest of the civilized world. All these announcements make me think they're laying the foundations for cancelling Songkran.

Personally, yes I would test because if I had it then I would want to isolate but I wouldn't want to isolate for no reason. But if it was positive, no I would not report it for fear of being carted off to a hospitel at my own expense. If I was Thai, I'd be more likely to report it since I'd be less likely to be fleeced.

Wow. Weird how the number of rapid tests suddenly rocketed after hovering at around the 20k mark for a while. I wonder if more people are reporting them now since they can home isolate, or whether the government is now releasing the real figures to support upcoming restrictions? Because staying extremely consistent for 6 days and then doubling overnight seems unrealistic.

It's such a small boat, it's hard to imagine how someone could fall off it without everyone immediately realizing and turning the boat around to get them. You'd think they would all have the same story. But it seems the manager has one story and everyone else has another story. It can't be that complicated. A handful of people on a small boat. Why all the confusion and conflicting reports? I was thinking it was a simple case of a drunk girl falling off the side while having a wee but it's starting to look like something shady happened, possibly involving fragile egos and loss of face. We'll probably never know...

Somewhere as corrupt as Thailand is a dream come true for criminals with plenty of cash to bribe officials. All you have to do is make sure you don't commit a crime here that attracts media attention and you can stay under the radar for many years, paying bribes that are basically peanuts for any criminal who has made decent money.

I kept my house in the UK. In the 15 years I've been here I've received as much in rent as I paid for it in 2003. I intend to rent it for about 15 more years, then sell it if I still have no plans to return there. Even though I work here it's nice to have that steady income stream going into my UK account where the rent is paid. I also like knowing that if it all goes wrong here, I won't be homeless if I have to return. I strongly advise keeping a base outside Thailand if you can afford to.

Yeah, they did on 20th February when I last went on Highway 9. My friend said there were massive queues to pay with cash at 7pm but I went through at 10pm and there was no queue at all, just pay 30 Baht at the cash booth toll same as before. I can't see them removing the cash tolls any time soon. It would be chaos.

A nice way to make 100% profit on a flight. Take the money for the flight, cancel it and refuse to give a refund. Then "restructure" the debt and announce huge profits.

They should push the electric motorbikes harder IMO. Get the ball rolling with something easy. They are very practical here. They are easier to charge than cars and most Thais don't do really long daily commutes so they could charge them from their homes overnight in a lot of cases. I remember visiting Qingdao for business about 10 years ago and was amazed that so many of the motorbikes were electric. It really made for a nice, quiet, clean feeling to rush hour. Unfortunately here in Thailand they will probably make the laws surrounding them ambiguous, leading to lots of fines from the police, insurance companies not paying out, people wary of buying them etc.