Bangkok Barry

The police doing what they do best, then. Nothing. And that is exactly why Thailand attracts so many low-lifes. They know that law enforcement is almost non-existent from an almost invisible police force. As mentioned above, in other countries in the region she would have been dealt with. Not in Thailand, though, the Land of Apathy.

Same old, same old. At least this time the Phuket mafia didn't attack a tourist.

In the real world it's a given that licenses are checked. In Thailand, where thousands of Thais are caught driving without a license at every Songkran, nah!

Agreed. It's lasted at least a month and the forecast I get is that it will be 39 or 40 in my area for at least the next 10 days. My aircon can't keep up.

I'm a little confused by this, as the common way for Thais dealing with abusive and/or aggressive behaviour is to simply look through the aggressor as if they don't exist. It's very effective and the aggressor either calms down or is completely ignored. They eventually get the message.

I believe that anyone throwing or firing water over anyone who doesn't want it is ill-mannered and selfish. You clearly disagree and are entitled to your opinion. As for those who say 'if you don't like it then stay home' are supporting no-go areas, which is unacceptable in any civilised society.

It's the culture. No different really to a pack of wild dogs. And such violence is always there bubbling just under the surface, waiting like a volcano to explode.

The assaulting of anyone by soaking them whether they invite it or not is nothing other than mass hooliganism and shows total disregard for others.

The situation now has no resemblance to 2020-2022, after the planet was 'shut down' to restrict - not combat - the virus as much as was practically possible. I say practically possible, as the only way to have killed it stone dead was to prevent all movement by everyone for a month. That, clearly, was impossible. Anyone who paid attention to the news and saw how people with Covid were treated in hospitals would have seen the virus was nothing like the flu. Now, in 2024 and as predicted, the virus has been largely controlled and has burned itself out and there are an infinitely smaller number of casualties. The effects of it NOW are usually similar to the flu. Where the WHO was at fault wasn't in 'shutting down' the planet, but in sucking up to the Chinese who refused point blank to allow them to properly and fully investigate the cause and source of the virus. There were absolutely zero consequences for the Chinese. None at all. By any government or organisation. None.

This comes from a PM who, in practical terms, took power in a coup after the 'wrong' party won the most recent election, the result of which a military-appointed group of dinosaurs senators vetoed.

He has spoken, made his recommendations, and his job is done. Anything that happens later is not his responsibility. You, I, he and everyone else knows that what is said will be ignored and is unenforceable and will quickly be forgotten, but that is not the point. He has acted, done what he considers to be his job, while actually doing nothing. This happens all the time, at least once a week. Someone makes a declaration and the next day it's ignored and forgotten. But that person has done their job by 'acting'.

A friend I was at school with had polio as a child and walked with a stick and later had a wheelchair. He has since travelled the world in said chair and said that Bangkok was by far the least friendly place he had been for the disabled. I've heard and read that at least part of Thais indifference to the disabled is that they believe they must have done something bad in a previous life and are being punished. Another example of Thai-style Buddhism.

Investigating takes not only time but skill. And a willingness to ask questions, something that in Thailand is beaten out of them as soon as they begin school as they might ask something the teacher doesn't have an answer to and face is lost. When I was at school in London I asked if the thick cables running inside underground tube tunnels carried phone cables. The teacher - shock horror - said she didn't know but she would find out. And she did, and they do. I struggle to believe that a Thai teacher would tell a kid they didn't know something. And when a brave journalist had the cheek to ask the previous Thai PM a question the PM threatened to have his mouth taped shut. Bear in mind the libel laws in Thailand too, and journalistic hands are very much tied. A foreign reporter at The Nation had to flee the country after criticizing an 'untouchable'.

From the BBC. Not about Bangkok but another tourist 'hotspot' of Chiang Mai: On 10 March, Thai health authorities reported that in the first nine weeks of the year, more than 1.3 million people had already suffered air pollution-related diseases. Thailand's extreme air pollution: 'I feel sorry for my daughter' (bbc.com) Tourists do not like pollution-related diseases. And didn't they have to close schools in Bangkok recently?

Yes. No. No. Yes. Yes.

Yes, But the clincher might be the fact that she admitted to entering Thailand illegally. Diersten further claimed to have met the Lebanese man in Dubai previously and explained her failure to report her entry into Thailand was due to safety concerns.

Usually it can be translated as 'going too fast to stop'.

I agree. No real fault of the staff in this case.

And now they own Asean Now.

Understaffing, not corruption, is to blame for an underperforming police force. They decided a couple of years ago to not even pretend to investigate minor crimes such as break-ins. The world continues to go backwards in so many ways, and that is just one example.

I've been reading this for as long as I can remember. And if they reduce the fare to 20 baht they'll also need to add more carriages to the trains as every man and his dog will ride it. Well, maybe not dogs.

And arrange for 500 protesters to gather at the tuk tuk stand.

Here, the flash is to tell you to get out of their way when they're hurtling towards you on your side of the road.

That's the custom in Thailand. It sounds a bit draconian, but they are held responsible for their carelessness. That is why, often, someone will count the money several times in front of you in a shop or restaurant or bar. There are positives in that, I suppose. Teaches staff to be careful and being responsible in their job.

He went to the UK with his family for a week, and returned rather than diverted to Dubai on his return. That might tell us something, that he believes he can prove he is innocent. If he isn't, then we have corruption and law breaking in the RTP right up to deputy national police chief level. But we guessed that.