monkeycountry

Suvarnabhumi says Chinese allowed to play cards at airport

Why only Chinese?

To be fair, it doesn't say "only" Chinese

Nice advertisement. Perhaps you can also mention that these people put up posters all over Samui's beaches, which is illegal and ugly, throw millions of flyers everywhere adding to the garbage problem, drive loudspeaker trucks around all day every day (also illegal) at 5-10 km/h, on crowded one way one lane roads, such as Chaweng Beach road, blocking all traffic, sail loadspeaker fishing boats close to shore all along the beach with both noise and gasoline polution and so on.

Oh, and according to the adverts, everyday is the biggest fight of the year, with the worlds best fighters each night, so whats the fuss about May 2nd?

I guess that is the way things are done in Pattaya , get permission for an acceptible 7 storey hotel and then change it to 13 storeys by sleight of hand .

Demolition of the ground floor by the army cannot be disputed and makes the hotel inoperable . The owners have to spend money to demolish the rest .

Or, since the army will not be demolishing the supporting columns, simply build the ground floor walls again when the army leaves and open the hotel. I am guessing that will be both cheaper and more profitable for the owners.

Only in Thailand and other 3rd world countries can you refuse a court order without repercussions. It is very simple, refuse and you go to prison until you decide to comply. Prison is a great deterrent, especially for the rich, who can actually afford to comply with the court order and thereby choose to avoid prison.

Banning for "life" is a little excessive. The Japanese guy "a long time Bangkok resident" must have pull to get this kind of response. The Thai taxi authorities should call a strike to support their colleagues. A heavy fine and suspension would have been sufficient. If a lifetime ban is called for in any case it should be three strikes you're out not two.

I bet if you count the amount of times these guys have pulled this scam, we are already at strike 1,000. Why do we always have to be lenient with these scamming taxi bastards. I think the airport did a great thing here, and hopefully it will serve as a warning to the rest. A fine however, will not help anything, and further, I do not believe the airport is authorized to issue fines. They can however decide who is or is not allowed to enter their premises. Personally I think the police should be involved, and these criminal drivers should be put in prison when caught.

I would however like to know how this ban is enforced. Is someone at the kiosk checking for banned taxi drivers?

One of the many scams the ladyboys are doing is to start a fight with any random tourist, then when the police get there, the ladyboy will demand say 500 baht on the spot, or insist on going to the police station and spend all day there sorting the mess.

The ladyboys know that most tourists do not want to spend all day at the police station, especially as the tourists do not know what is going to happen or what the risks are, so the will likely just hand over the 500 baht, and move on.

The police are of course useless as usual and do not inform the tourists that they are being cheated.

As I have said before, the ladyboys have no legitimate business in those areas, they are a bunch of criminals and should be banned/removed permanently by the police.

Many lady boys work very close to Beach road. Do you want the names of the businesses?

I believe most of them "work" directly ON beach road.

A shame he didn't shoot himself in the head. Now eventually he will likely be shooting someone else in the head once he loses face.

Better luck next time.

One of the many scams the ladyboys are doing is to start a fight with any random tourist, then when the police get there, the ladyboy will demand say 500 baht on the spot, or insist on going to the police station and spend all day there sorting the mess.

The ladyboys know that most tourists do not want to spend all day at the police station, especially as the tourists do not know what is going to happen or what the risks are, so the will likely just hand over the 500 baht, and move on.

The police are of course useless as usual and do not inform the tourists that they are being cheated.

As I have said before, the ladyboys have no legitimate business in those areas, they are a bunch of criminals and should be banned/removed permanently by the police.

I am guessing traffic at sea is just like traffic on the roads in Thailand, so noone has any idea what to do :-)

In any case, pushing someone overboard, if true, is probably a criminal charge, and should be treated as such - might even be attempted murder?

Those of you bemoaning the fact that songkran has changed - is Christmas celebrated the same way in your home country that it was 50 years ago?

Change is one of the few certainties in life. Did you really move to a developing country and expect it to stay the same way forever?

Noone is shooting eachother in the eyes with anything at Christmas anywhere that I know of, neither now nor in the past. I think the problem is that some people, especially foreign men it seems to me, think that Songkran is some sort of carte blance to deliberately hurt others.

Sure, accidents happen all the time, and more so at Songkran, but they are still accidents. Putting someone in hospital by shooting them in the eyes on purpose with a high powered watergun is not an accident, and my guess is it would be considered assault if anyone pressed charges - and I hope eventually someone will do just that.

So the taxis, who as always insist on cheating their customers by not using meters, are now complaining that someone else is cheating them. Som Nam Na.

Put the taxi scum in prison where they belong!

Further, tourists do not seem to be the target. There are no tourists at Central's parking basement that late, as also evidenced by the fact that the injured were all Thai as far as I understand.

Central shopping mall itself could however be the target, as it represents the socalled rich and powerful Bangkok elite. It was also a Central mall that got burned down in Bangkok in 2010, although that had probably more to do with the fact that it was located right next to the demonstration.

What a load of rubbish ! no tourists 1 italian girl was injured, there are plenty of tourists around central get your facts straight !

You are right. The underground car park at Central is a tourist hotspot every night at 22:30. I even hear Lonely Planet will include it in their next edition. How stupid of me.

Car jacking s quite popular among theives in some countries, so why not bike jackin

Because cars are worth alot more

Hahaha. So 6 thai guys attack 1 brit who is already down due to the crash, and yet they lose? I guess they need a bigger gang or simply go back to attacking old ladies so they have a chance :-)

CCTV from both the ferry, Central and elsehwere on Samui might show who got in and out of that car. If lucky and the recording is good quality, it might also tell if it is red shirts or southern muslim insurgents, as people from the south and from the north and Isaan often don't look alike.

It could of course also be that the bomber(s) can be identified directly from CCTV, especially if pictures are posted in the news.

Further, tourists do not seem to be the target. There are no tourists at Central's parking basement that late, as also evidenced by the fact that the injured were all Thai as far as I understand.

Central shopping mall itself could however be the target, as it represents the socalled rich and powerful Bangkok elite. It was also a Central mall that got burned down in Bangkok in 2010, although that had probably more to do with the fact that it was located right next to the demonstration.

"He said the driver appeared sleepy"

How many times do you read that from surviving bus passengers? The last thing I would do if I saw a bus driver dozing off is remain a passenger!

I agree, but keep in mind these were likely low paid burmese construction workers, and getting out would probably mean they would lose what they had already paid, and would have to pay for another van or similar - if they could even find one that would take them. People with money generally have more options.

Anyway, the good news is the driver did not flee the scene for once.