Bangkok Barry

The linked article says he killed three but only fired two shots. Typical Thai reporting, or did he kill two with one bullet? The latter would be unusual, the former less so.

Pattaya police added that the incident would be taken seriously and according to them hurts the reputation of Pattaya. What reputation would that be, then?

My wife says the latest death was the fault of the kids for not alerting the driver that someone was still in the van. She has a point, even though the primary fault lays with those charged with ensuring the safety of the kids in their charge not being bothered to do their job properly. As so often in Thailand, near enough is good enough (hanging wires, electrical faults etc). Except, sometimes, it isn't and people die or are injured. But no-one really cares and history repeats itself.

I know how schools can save this money. Take 20 seconds to see if any kids are left in the van before locking it. Problem solved, although in Thailand that appears to asking too much.

Maybe. Someone in our village shot dead a kid stealing an apple from a tree and was never prosecuted. Came to a financial arrangement with the parents, no doubt negotiated with their 'agent' the police who took a cut, left the village for awhile and is now back as if nothing happened. But then, he was Thai and you're not.

Because you were being cheated and then abused, perhaps. It seems that you would just swallow it, which is exactly how and why these rip-off people exist. They probably try it on all the time and most just brush off their ill-treatment, say nothing but then return home and tell everyone they know and both they and their friends and family cross the country off their list of places to visit. Singaporeans are used to higher standards and don't put up with <deleted>.

That would mean being able to join the dots, which is really asking for too much.

Wake me up if anyone spots a report of the law being applied and someone being arrested.

Come on! This is Thailand. Any security guard would have been woken up by the looters and paid a few thousand baht to see nothing, and then he would have disappeared. Anyone who has lived here for more than five minutes knows that security guards are there on minimum wage just for show and are useless. A perfect example are the MRT 'security guards' in Bangkok who shine a torch for half a second at your closed bag, or those at shopping centres who watch as people go in the exit door and avoid the scanners at the proper entrance - and then do nothing. I read on here of one guard who showed up for work on his first night with a pillow and blanket and probably wonders until this day why the farang owner sacked him before he even started.

The article says that the electrician - and I use that term loosely - 'fixed' something on the day of the fire. My impression is that the whole of Thailand is an accident waiting to happen, judging from the work I've personally seen here. Just look at the number of fires that are blamed on a 'short circuit'. Of course, all the others you mention are to blame too. But so many in Thailand are just not interested in doing a job well - including electricians - whether they are paid to look the other way or not. It's deeply ingrained into the culture that near enough will do. Sometimes it won't and people die. But no-one really seems to care.

You are right, of course. And, as I wrote in an earlier post to the one you quoted, the SUV driver was clearly to blame for the accident as he failed to do as you described.

Who said that it doesn't? Where did you read that? However, I and everyone else who has spent any time in Thailand knows 1 - that Thais never fight one on one but only like a pack of rabid dogs and 2 - it is highly dangerous to 'look at someone the wrong way' or challenge them in any way on the roads (overtaking, hooting etc) or anywhere else as they might well be armed with a baseball bat, a sword or a gun and do not appreciate being challenged. There are many, many stories like this every month, and they indicate that there is something deeply, deeply wrong with Thai society. When it involves adults it's bad enough, but when kids do this then the future is grim. The rival school battles that involve all kinds of weapons including ping-pong bombs, whatever they are, are frequently reported and are part of the culture. Fortunately, the unrestrained violence is usually, but not always, Thai on Thai.

A friend of mine died in Phuket and within hours the locals descended like vultures and his house was stripped of everything, including the bed he died on, and his SUV 'vanished'. Morally bankrupt people in the land where money trumps all.

My now deceased father-in-law and his brother simply decided what land they wanted back in the days before the government regulated it. Now, all his kids have several rai each. The funny thing is, it's worth nothing in practical terms as none will sell it except to each other as it's family land given by their father. I suppose it's good for collateral though.

My impression from the video is that the motorcycle - according to the report, and not a scooter - was going very, very fast. Other opinions may differ.

From the video it is clearly the SUV driver's fault for pulling out in front of the bike, But that bike was also going at a hell of a speed. As quoted in the link, Lt. Samphan mentioned that accidents frequently occur in this area because it’s a straight road and drivers tend to travel at high speed. Why so many drivers in Thailand are in such a tearing hurry is beyond me. It's always 'driving at high speed' whenever an accident occurs. As for it being known as an accident blackspot because of speeding, I suppose speed bumps are out of the question? But they cost money and losing lives is cheaper, i suppose.

There should be a plentiful supply of fish!

Yes. When it's time to renew his visa he might get a surprise. If he lasts long enough in the country to apply for renewal. I wonder how long he's lived in Thailand to not know that free speech is frowned upon.

Actually that's the worse place for them. Way too dangerous! Thailand should get rid of all its crossings so that people wouldn't falsely believe that it's safe to use them. Not having them would save lives and people being injured. If drivers ignore them what is the point of them anyway?

Since when is questioning an opinion that Thailand is the best place on the planet 'troublemaking'? Having a different opinion is not troublemaking. So you agree with him that there is nowhere in the world better than Thailand. Okay. Thanks for your thoughts.

Who are you to tell him what he should think ? I'm not telling him to think anything. I'm saying, in my opinion which I'm as entitled to have as he is, that he has strange priorities if he believes that there is nowhere in the world better than Thailand. So far, 17 people have agreed with me, with only you, you alone, questioning that. As, like me, you are entitled to do.

It's a strange country, isn't it. The police have only one job, which is to uphold the law. But any day on any street at any minute you can see them not doing that. And it begs the question, why does Thailand have a police force at all. So much crime is committed by them (including one mentioned in the article) that without them the crime rate would fall as they would have no uniform to back them up.

Well we wouldn't him losing face now would we. He's family too, so an impossible task to say he's done a poor job which needs to be re-done.

Note that in the article there is not one word stating that the unsafe places have been ordered closed. Not one.

So many people in Thailand have no pride in what they do. Any way will do. What a sad way to live. We've just had a college-trained electrician do some work at our house and he simply fixed a couple of wires together with so-called insulating tape - like in the photo in the linked article. My wife told me not to be fussy.