monkeycountry

You would think a bill intended to make everyone happy would have just a little bit more support

Thai courts are useless. They use the first year of most cases trying to get people to settle. Wakeup call, if people could settle, they would not go to court would they?

Anyway, the crime has already been committed, no matter what Starbung does to their logo, so I hope Starbucks pushes on with their lawsuit, and teach them, and Thais in general, a lesson.

And even with their logo changes, they are still pushing their luck, why not just change it completely? Seems to me they are still trying to upset Starbucks, which is partly why I hope Starbucks continues the suit.

But then again, he was also finished with politics some years ago

Anyway, I doubt anyone who can count cares about the 46 billion. It is peanuts compared to what his government is stealing through various scams. In fact I think the opposition would give him his 46 billion if he once and for all promised never to contact Thailand again in any way

I personally believe that for a Westerner to expect to live in Thailand long-term-- especially if he wants to have a family, then he must be retired with a decent pension or have more than enough cash in the bank.

To expect to live here long-term with the uncertainty of the job market is very risky.

Some people have skills that makes it easy for them to land good jobs anytime (good as in well paid). Most seem to be in Bangkok though.

"This has been the first press conference Pol. Capt. Chalerm made since his recent week-long admission to hospital for subdural hematoma a week ago."

I admit I did not know what a subdural hematoma was, so I googled it - and the result explains everything

"A subdural hematoma is a collection of blood on the surface of the brain.

Causes: Subdural hematomas are usually the result of a serious head injury."

Don't blame the guy. He is a police officer. All he learned in his career was how to threaten, extort and intimidate people - and of course how to get his kids off the hook for murdering fellow police officers.

Nothing has changed since his police officer days. Except now the threat is, if you do not accept the current amnesty bill, then we will push one through that is even worse.

At least everything he says and does is so insane that he is a liability, not an asset, to the PTP - so I hope he keep pushing

Oh my good. Did she really call a press conference to tell everyone that she "truly believes" that the government will accept the senates decision? She has made it clear to everyone that she is not involved in this amnesty scam at all, so what she "truly believes" does not really matter. Further, the people on the street don't want blanket amnesty, and could not care less what the senate decides or does not decide a week or more from now.

Sounds like she once again has claimed no responsibility, and simply hopes the protesters will just go home and wait for the senate.

I truly believe PM Yingluck is the most clueless (perhaps on purpose) PM I have ever heard of in any country, and I would love for anyone of her supporters to provide any indication that she was ever the "successful businesswoman" they claim she was?

She makes me want to throw up.

How about you Ms. Yingluck make a sacrifice for once, and forget about your brother for like 10 minutes. Simply include in the amnesty law that your brother will not be included, and all the demonstrations will vanish. As long as your family is the only thing blocking peace, do not expect sympathy from anyone but the red fools!

I understand the amnesty law is to bring peace, and not to bring Mr. Thaksin home, well if that is the case, then how is that going? Is there now more or less peace than before the amnesty law was proposed? I think the answer is obvious, so why keep pushing it?

For once I believe what the PTP is sayng. Afterall PM Yingluck is never involved in anything, so why would she be involved in this.

The Army chief today called for Yingluck to solve the problems regarding the amnesty scam. Unfortunately that will not be possible. Partly because it has nothing to do with her, she may in fact not even know an amnesty bill exists, and partly because she is currently extremely busy with a beauty pageant in Lopburi

Imagine if the OP had said. My family and I are going to PTA. We want to experience getting robbed. Where are the good robbers?

My family and I are coming to Pattaya and want to know where we can buy the winning lottery ticket?

“If we receive a report of a guard attacking a tourist, we will charge him for assault, which carries a fine of up to 4,000 baht, two years in prison or both,”

The actual sentence for assaulting a tourist is a 500 baht fine, no prison - or both!

It is good to see the jetski mafia has now decided no longer to attack tourists right away, but instead call their fellow gang members, the police, before the attack/extortion commences.

As for guns - how about a law prohibiting everyone but the police from carrying guns? Some countries have laws like that, such as scandinavia - and magically those countries have very low gun crime rates

Let's hope for real justice. If found guilty in court, (A very public court case, public in all

the Thai Papers) and a long jail term for each, perhaps this will send a message to the

other "little thugs" to think twice before attacking other people on the streets. No 500B

fine and on your way to the next victim.

Now that we are hoping, can I hope to win the lottery instead?

One of two things can happen now.

1. We will never hear of this story again.

2. The teens will be sentenced to a 500 baht fine (each), an apology and a pickup by their parents.

"Thailand topped the chart for being a good place to make friends and enjoy an active social life."

Well, certain areas in Thailand sure has an active social life

"FDA officials suggested that if you suddenly feel nauseous while using the services of a taxi cab, you should roll down the taxi’s windows."

I always feel nauseous when taking a taxi here. I think it has little to do with the air though, and more to do with the monkey sitting in front of me

Am I thinking the right way?

If the gov collects 500 baht from 26 million tourists they get 13 billion baht from this but the cost to the gov is only 200 million. That's 65 times more money than they need to pay for the foreigner's medical bills. How can they decide that 500 baht is fair when less than 10 baht would pay for the extra expense to the government?

Also, will they still collect from people who have work visas and Thailand social security who leave for a holiday or something like that? (I read that if you have a work permit you will pay for Thailand SS every month.)

According to the PTP government themselves in various newspapers they plan to collect roughly 10 billion baht/year this way, and they need roughly 300 million baht to cover the hospital bills. They have confirmed that this leaves an estimated 9.7 billion baht, which will be spent elsewhere by the PTP government.

The government has not specified what "elsewhere" means, but given their track record, I think most people are able to figure that out for themselves

It is almost always a 500 baht fine when a thai assaults a foreigner. The severity of the assault does not seem to matter. This also explains why some thais now seem to assault tourists just for fun, they know there is no risk to them, even if they get caught.

That's true. However, there is an alternative. The miscreant can be sent to court if the victim insists and has a hospital report.

I was mildly assaulted some time ago and reported the incident to the police. The Lt Col in charge insisted that I go to Banglamung Hospital and get a medical report so that the case could be sent to court. I was tired and just wanted to go home. The Lt Col urged me to get the report and asked me to wait while he prepared a form to present to the hospital. Cost of the report was 200 baht. All in all, a long drawn out process but it sends a message to the assailant that he can't pounce on people and get away with it for 500 baht. Of course that only works with a resident who is prepared to see the process through.

If more people were aware of this alternative and prepared to pursue it we might see some impact on the lawlessness in this town.

As you said yourself, it only works for persistent residents. A tourist is not going to stay in Thailand for the next few years in order to see a couert case through, so statement or no statement, at the first court hearing when the tourist fails to show up, the case will be dismissed.

The law in the UK is if you carry a knife it's 5 years in the monkey house.

You will read in the few week the same man has killed some foreigner as he thinks he can get away with it.

It is not something "he thinks he can get away with". numerous news stories over the years has proven that "he can get away with it".

Regardless of the cause the reaction to stab a 70 year old was extreme.

The fine is also extreme - but at the opposite end of the scale.

Thailand should be embarrassed at this.

This is assault, it is attempted manslaughter... the 500 baht fine is no deterrent whatsoever.

The scum of Thai society is being taught that they can act out their tantrums and anger with impunity.

There is no attitude of crime prevention in Thailand - simply a limited reaction.

I wonder when those on the wrong end of crime and attacks will start taking the law into their own hands and seeking their own revenge.

They already do, all the time. Most Thais learned long ago that their legal system does not work, so they usually settle their disputes with a gun or similar instead. The bad guys know this, so they usually think twice before assaulting another Thai. However, they also know that most foreigners stick to the dysfunctional legal system, so they are "free" to assault.

A bus full of school children crashes and bursts into flames. Children are seen attempting to get out of the inferno, but they are burned alive. No one survived the crash.

.. was that based on real events or was is fictive?

Fortunately its fiction. I’m just pointing out to the good Dr. Robert, that only an insane person would agree with his statement.

But what if it was a bus full of taxi drivers, jetski guys - or perhaps red shirts?

^{Simply call the labour office, they would know if it is legal or not.}

^{Sorry, saw you already did that, so forget my post}

There is a government department that can and will close down businesses who are not allowed to operate in certain areas and/or buildings.

As an example they once shut down one of my neighbours who built an industrial size freezer in his standard semi detached shophouse to run a food supply business. The freezer cooled everything around it down, causing condensation on the walls and floors of the neighbouring houses.

The mentioned government department was called and they came straight away, looked at the problem and decided that you cannot have an industrial size freezer in a residential area, or a shophouse (I do not know the exact criteria).

The freezer was turned off for good, and eventually removed. No court case necessary.

When that same neighbour later built his freezer in another house in the same area, he had an outdoor generator running 24/7 connected to his new freezer. This caused a noise problem, and again the department was called. They came, and told him to remove the generator which he did.

Similarly, it could be illegal to run a laundry from a residence. I assume they have big machinery, chemical spills and what not, which might be illegal? Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to call. Unfortunately I neither have the name nor number, but at least the department exists, and should be possible to find.