Bangkok Barry

Cash works, always. Every single time. It doesn't need an app, a phone, a secure transfer system prone to outages. But 'progress' moves us ever closer to a system prone to problems and people mentioned above who find they can't pay their restaurant bill - great image at a business lunch or dinner. And any system can be hacked. How many times have we seen a business or organisation claim their system is secure, until they find it isn't.

These two statements are incompatible. If people are allowed to check in more than the rules dictate then that is far from irrelevant. If the check-in staff had followed their own rules then she would not have had the suitcase to trip over. So yes, there are consequences in flouting the rules, and being allowed to do so. But we all know that Thais are, let's say, flexible with the rules, many believing those rules don't apply to them if they are inconvenient.

They call it progress. I experienced similar nonsense when I went to McDonalds at don Mueang airport. The old way to order was to go to the counter, say what you wanted, hand over the cash. Took 20 seconds. Now, you go to a screen, find the menu, select the items, are asked if you want it delivered to your table or not. Can take up to two minutes. And it most definitely isn't done for the benefit of the customer. I suppose the 20 second method might still work, but I don't know.

Thank you. Posts like this anger me. You were much more polite than I. Agreed. The post was arrogant, saying 'look how smart and progressive I am'.

Facebook has not been a major influence. It is merely the, actually a, platform and a victim of people abusing it. With billions around the world using it, it is impossible to check every message sent. It was, as you pointed out, a useful medium in the beginning. But, whatever humans invent, it very quickly becomes corrupted. It's just the way humans are. The latest is AI, which some are now using to make deadly chemicals even more deadly, to use in warfare. Aren't we a great species.

It is common to see suitcases like that carried onto planes, despite the rules. And, as far as weight restrictions are concerned, in Thailand it might depend on your nationality. A Thai friend of mine was returning to Germany and was allowed her 65 kilos of luggage through to her THAI flight with no surcharge made. I cannot imagine I being allowed the same. In fact, I was once charged for 3 kilos overweight by United to Tokyo.

From what I've read, the 17 year old - who was too young to drive anyway and where did he get the car? - ran a red light, and when he was stopped by the police he tried to drive off. And it seems to be the norm now in many countries to open fire if that happens and ask questions later. And, as is also the norm, people come out on the streets to protest and burn down their own neighborhood, and then wonder why the shops and businesses they used are no longer there to serve them.

Can't you print off or send them details of how you CAN. Ferry website etc.

He asked for 20 million but there is nothing in the report to say it was paid. However, the court has seized 20 million in assets. Different thing, probably obtained by other 'arrangements' during his career.

They get bought off.

Why do they give the license plate number in these reports? It has nothing at all to do with the accident, has no bearing on it. Completely pointless. Weird.

The walkway has yellow lines on each side. Maybe, like road markings and pedestrian crossings, the locals think they're there for decoration. Maybe they are entirely unaware that the lines are a warning to keep off them and stand further in on the walkway or escalator. That way, you don't get your foot trapped in the side. Simples. This case is an example of poor parenting, guilty of what you say - Thailand safety always last. Don't blame the manufacturer. Blame people with no common sense.

Especially when the airport was closed between 2006 and 2012.

I doubt that very much. Apathy is generally the order of the day here. Really? Not that the riots achieved anything. They rarely do, anywhere.

We are not involved in Thai politics. But that doesn't stop us having a view and discussing what, ultimately, affects Thais and farangs alike. My sister lived in Spain and despite not being Spanish she, as a resident, was entitled to vote in local elections as the policies affected her as much as the Spanish. Logical. That will never happen in Thailand, but at least we are free to discuss the issues.

You could say the same, but more so, about the US. It's a strange world.

You say a great deal without offering a single thing to back up what you claim. No evidence, no article, no quote from a disappointed victim, nothing other than unfounded claims with no facts to back you up.

You don't need money. No-one is going to give you the bill /check once you start firing everywhere.

I've asked my wife about this. Apparently, and this is hard to believe, she tells me it is normal, if a person dies at home (or in this case 'dies' in transit), for the family merely to accept that person as dead. No medical personnel at all are called to confirm it. That only happens in the case of an accident or mysterious death (body found in field etc). I guess that sometimes the family member gets the diagnosis wrong and you get people 'waking from the dead'. Not the first case I've read of it happening here, and now I know why. I go to bed wiser than when I woke up, always a good thing.

Exactly what I wrote, and the post got a 'confused'. No idea why. Maybe you'll get one too.

This was in a ThaiPBSWorld link: The airport director and other senior administrators went to the hospital to follow up on the victim’s condition and promised to take care of her medical expenses and compensation... Better to read up on the event before posting an unjustified rant.

It was checked three days before.

My point was that there doesn't appear to be any gap big enough for her leg could slip in to.

That is exactly why they keep postponing it. If it is to be included in the ticket price, how is your status determined when you book, on-line or otherwise? The airlines have already told the government to take a long walk off a short pier as they have zero interest in dealing with the complications of an ill-thought out idea. It's typical Thai thinking - someone comes up with an idea and doesn't think it through, and anyone with half a brain but who is inferior in status to the boss can't tell him he's a idiot. Plus, Thailand is arrogant enough to believe that all the airlines who fly passengers into the country will add to their workload by determining who does or doesn't need to pay the tax. Airlines do not work for the Thai government. And so, before the end of the year, there will be another U-turn. Or the next government will dump the proposal in the bin where it belongs.

There are things here that don't make sense to me. The first photo shows very little damage of the walkway, and absolutely no way that could mangle her leg. The second photo appears to show most of her leg missing, yet the report says the leg was amputated below the knee. I do understand that she could trip while preparing to leave the walkway with her suitcase, and that might happen several times a day - especially if people are looking at their phone instead of paying attention (not saying that is the case here). But that shouldn't result in such an accident.