Bangkok Barry

My Bangkok Bank ATM card expires this month. Went to the bank on Wednesday and after waiting for over half an hour during which time no-one ahead of me was finished being dealt with I left. Returned today, had the same wait with two in the queue numbers ahead of me leaving as they left while losing the will to live (see me on Wednesday). Having had to present my passport and Passbook, I then had to sign my name nine times and enter my PIN number four times before receiving the card. That's the Thai way. At least it was free, which I didn't expect. I also have an HSBC card in the UK. When the card is due to expire they post me a new one. That's it. No passport, no passbook, no personal visit to the bank, no signatures. It's deeply imbedded in the Thai psyche to make things as difficult and as complicated as possible. And because it is normal here the locals see nothing wrong with that. It's all they know.

I saw a docu-drama about Winston Churchill, and he took rides on the London Underground to speak with passengers about the service.

More half-baked reporting from The Thaiger as the top-notch reporter forgets to tell us how it happened, how a woman can fall down a lift shaft. Was the door faulty? Was the lift being installed and there was no door? Was it under maintenance and Safety First engineers forget to post warning signs and put up barriers? Did he enquire? Did he ask questions? Did he try to find out how such a thing could occur?

I think the people to blame are those who leave their rubbish on the beach.

Normal there. And I've read there are plenty of customers in the City Of London area comprising of financiers on their way to the office as well as market traders ending their working 'day' (night).

You touch there on something that has puzzled me for a long time. The aim of any restaurant or similar is to get as many bums on seats as possible, to get people in and out in the quickest possible time. Yet Starbucks does exactly the opposite, encouraging people to linger instead of freeing up seats for others. Obviously it works, but I have no idea how. Maybe by charging double for their coffee? Nothing wrong with that, as there are clearly those who prefer comfort to saving money. Certainly their coffee is nothing special. My favourite is actually at McDonalds, but it's all down to personal taste, isn't it.

He was convicted for corruption, largely related to a piece of land his wife purchased, so I wouldn't hold your breath.

I sometimes would have an Amazon coffee at Sukhumvit MRT and watch people sitting in Starbucks across the way paying twice as much for the same thing. Muppets,

All pretty much corruption-free, and all far more prosperous, Join the dots,,,,,,

He clearly can't live in civilised society and has no interest in anyone but himself, so lock him up and throw away the key, He's a waste of time and space. He doesn't care about others, so why should we care about him. I wonder what his parents are like.

They might like to consider spending their budget on education courses for taxi and tuk tuk drivers, teaching them that attacking tourists that do come is a bad idea. And all other drivers that killing visitors on pedestrian crossings is frowned upon too, And then there are the authorities who think that not caring about the live and/or low hanging wires that make holidaying in Thailand such an unforgettable experience (yet another one in the news today) doesn't matter. Stuff like that.

The writer is, shall we say, not very skilled at his job, As he is at pains to prove to us several times a week.

When Thais crash a vehicle they really crash it. No half measures.

The secret to life is only wearing clothes that need no ironing.

That kind of mirrors what my wife says, which is they will die anyway. Different culture to ours, and particularly strange in a so-called Buddhist nation where life is meant to be so precious, isn't it? Of course, the entire Thai way of life is in direct conflict with true Buddhism.

They are too stupid to join the dots (IQ is 88). They have no concept that what they do is dangerous, that it could kill or injure themselves and others. It simply would never occur to them. I would bet all I have that there is not a single family in Thailand who does not know of someone who has been killed or seriously injured on the roads.

Strange how their religion demands that someone or someone should suffer, isn't it. But I suppose it's the same in those countries where assisted dying is illegal, although how much religious beliefs play in that I'm not sure. Probably deep down it does.

I quoted what a witness said happened. Clearly you are not able to understand that. That's okay.

Why would you want to hunt I presume innocent and defenseless animals?

Why is someone who mentions that Thailand hasn't executed anyone for years a 'smarta@%' (according to you)? I look forward to your answer, because I don't understand but am always willing to learn.

Exactly so. All of the above.

My wife was speechless when I took her to the UK and usually the first, always no more than the second, car stopped for her. You First instead of Me First.

Me too. I don't allow any vehicles inside my house. Although my father-in-law would often park his motorcycle in the house when he was alive but he was careful not to hit me as he wheeled it in. If I had painted black and white lines on the floor it might have been a different matter, of course.

You are correct.

Are you suggesting that someone - of any age - that has a hoard of weapons, as this kid did, and planned to murder as many people as he could, should not be dealt with by the law? What has him being 14 years old got to do with anything? He's a callous murderer. And, by the way, people are not executed in Thailand. Haven't been for two decades.