Lee4Life

I have no problem paying a little more for a bigger taxi if I have a lot of luggage. However, I will not let them screw me, to charge 600 to 700 baht. That is BS.

But you have no problem paying the airline an extra 5 or 6 hundred dollars to carry your bags.

Sometimes best to think before opening.

It doesn't cost "5 or 6 hundred dollars" to bring enough bags through airlines to make it difficult to fit luggage into the small taxis. Two people flying in economy from the States are allowed two fifty pound bags each, plus two carry-on items each. They almost always try and steer you towards the larger taxis. If the larger taxis are allowed to increase their fees, then there will no longer be any small taxis at the airport.

A bridge over troubled water ... Simon and Garfunkel.

Nope...a troubled bridge over water

How was the investigation carried out that proved the fire was not the result of careless service if the vessel is still at the bottom of the sea?

I smell another subsidy coming!

I travel in and around bkk i guess more than most here and have noticed this phenomenon grumpy posts about, I normally dont want to be first away from the lights..fear of red light runners , i tend to let a few pull away in front of me,

If riding the cbr its quite normal that i would be passing the scooters soon after without even revving the bike into the power band, there are a few thais who seem to take this personal and will go to extreme measures to pass regardless of the danger they put themselves in,

They dont seem to realise that i,m not racing them even when i stop beside them at the next traffic light.

I have noticed the same thing riding a Phantom between NongKhai and Udon, often scooter riders pick up their speed when I come up next to them or pass me back and then slow down again. It's also common for scooters to try and race away from the lights, I don't notice these things happening when I ride a scooter.

You wouldn't mind, but non-Thais can't even own the land next to the roads they refuse to repair and upgrade.

Good point! The fact is that no matter who lives there, in one way or another, the property is Thai owned.

Maybe they took extreme measures, but show me someone who wouldn't feel like doing the same thing. The guard shouldn't have let the driver park blocking and walk away with his brake left on, the driver of the blocking vehicle shouldn't have left his brake on, and the other guy shouldn't have smashed the window. They should use this instance as an educational tool for drivers in Thailand on how not to block someone in.

Weather forecasts are named forecasts for a reason. It is a prediction or estimate of the weather. If one wants a guarantee, I suppose they could look elsewhere.

O.k. but where?

Sviss Geez,,,

What decade of Google are you using?.... Are you THAT dense?.... "There is nothing like a black-box in a car, any car, as yet in production." But you ARE correct,,,, "FAIL!",,,,,, just not me,,,,

1, 2011, http://www.wired.com/2011/05/automotive-black-boxes/

2, 2013, http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/01/06/black-boxes-cars-edr/1566098/

3, 2014, http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2014/12/26/keep-your-car-black-box-private/20609035/

There,,, i've provided 3,, dating back over at least 4 years,,,, Care to show me ONE, concerning a MODERN car like this Mercedes, that counters these I've provided?,,,,,, WHY is it some people, dig a small hole,, and when it's pointed out they are digging themselves into a hole,, claim they're NOT, and Seem to ask, "Mate?,, got a larger shovel?"...

They are purely ECUs. They are not programmed to record every second or every movement. They simply update the electronics during a journey. We're not at Star Trek level yet. They retune the engine, they monitor electrics primarily, ensure warning lights are on if there is an electronic error - but they do not record who was sitting where, if the pretensioner fired, if the airbags fired on impact. Wake up..... if you believe that malarky then don't feel so fancy free next time at the wheel.

You are quite wrong.... I am a retired Ford Electronic Engine Controls Technician, your statements would have been true if this was 1990, but are not true now. Nowadays Technicians can bring up speeds at times of accidents, average speeds of the vehicles and other historical information, it just depends on the car make and model how much info can be brought up...but many of the cars use very similar computer systems, that is why scanners such as the OBD II work on so many vehicles. As far back as ten years ago some of the higher line vehicles had as many as seven computer systems on board. We may not be at the Star Trek level, but neither are we at the Beverly hillbillies level

I don't know if it's the same person, but 2 weeks ago, there was a white guy hauling ass in his benz convertible coming into Hua Hin. Looks like the same car. I'm no saint when I drive either though so it's hard to judge.

In my past life I was a Tow Truck operator and saw more accident scenes than I could ever remember, that Benz has an awful lot of damage for a car-motorbike accident, especially the types of bikes that are normally ridden here, and the bike was thrown quite a distance. It could very well be that the bike pulled in front of the Benz, but it could also be that the rider of the bike grossly misjudged the speed the Benz was traveling at.

Did the vendor have a street-traders licence ?

And did she set-up in a very precarious position ?

Any safety checks on the bus ?

Does anyone care ? let alone take responsibility ?

No No No No No

Are your first two questions ridiculous? Yes Yes

Great pics! Thanks so much.

So just how does a person do something like that and get a video of himself doing it on his own phone unless it was planned? Kind of shoots holes in the "I didn't know what I was doing because I was drunk" excuse

There are many reports on this forum about getting a Thai visa in Vientiane. Suggest you go to the "search" block at the upper right, type in Vientiane, click "this forum" and take a look. Note: You want to go to the Thai CONSULATE, not the Embassy.

Here's just one: http://huahin.thaivisa.com/hua-hin-to-vientiane-visa-run/

FYI, 16-17 April may be quite busy at the Thai Consulate, so as suggested, go EARLY. The Lao will be celebrating Phi Mai Lao this week, same as Songkran here.

Mac

This is absolutely correct, but be aware that the taxi, tuktuk and van drivers, use the word "embassy", it is not likely that they will understand "consulate". The Lao words are "sah-tahn toot Thai".

Sounds like he's just got a bit jaded and needs to go home for a while.

Maybe he needs to go offline for a while

Exactly! Being "connected" is supposed to make our lives easier, we are supposed to be able to get more done and have more down time, but the truth is that it takes over lives if you're not careful. I should know

Yep, always open. Be careful about crossing too late though, the other day I gave a couple of guys a lift from the border into NongKhai at 9:00pm. Thai officials wouldn't let them cross because the Visa on arrival on the Lao side was closed. The border is open from 6am to 10pm but the Visa on arrival on the Lao side is not open until 10pm. Not sure what time they close.

It just may be time for Thailand and the US to amicably separate. The US clearly does not appreciate Thai culture and governance. And the Thais equally have no understanding of US standards of accountability, transparency, and quality control. Let the Thais rule themselves as they want, with no interference from the US. And the US should simply shut its door to trade with Thailand. This doesn't mean Thais cannot go to the US or vice versa. But the two countries apparently no longer share any similar political values, defense concerns, or economic needs. I'm sure trade with Russia, China, and North Korea will make up for it all, anyway.

I'm confused as to how you can say that the US does not appreciate Thai Culture, can you please explain that statement?

--- the brake suddenly developed problem ---

Yes...brakes on buses and trucks here tend to " suddenly develop problems" after the drivers ride the brakes for many kilometers and overheat them. Just as vehicles here seem to "go out of control" when traveling curvy roads at high speeds and/or when the roadways are wet.

I guess I certainly have a different idea about what "putting on a brave face" means, I would say that it means bellying up to the bar and taking your licks if you've done something wrong, not playing the blame game all the time or never admitting fault. I would call that another kind of face.

I'm actually shocked there hasn't been an outpouring of bile at the press for actually reporting this....it could cost millions of lost revenue don't ya know, are you gonna pay??

Then again it wasn't the FAA, if it was TVF would be awash with vitriol telling those evil 'americans to stop meddling lol

I was wondering what was missing from this thread! Just couldn't put a finger on it until I read your post

In many places there is NO service available for garbage disposal. We can sell plastic, ฿1.0/Kg, glass, metal, paper and carton, but have to keep it here until the guy comes to collect. I know of two Farangs that also burn plastic without shame. We bundle our stuff into garbage bags and take it to town once a week, plenty of bins that get emptied on Tuesdays that are always half empty. Now doing this for three families. If you don't have a car or are to lazy to sell your stuff, you burn it.

While you may be correct about many places not having garbage service, they do have it in our village and also have garbage bins that the government placed at intervals along the streets. The locals still burn garbage though, and often we have to run around the house closing windows to keep the plastic and rubber burning fumes from coming in the house. One of my neighbors burns rubber inside of his cow shed at night, I believe to ward off mosquitos, another neighbor burns different kinds of garbage in her orchard every morning...I think to ward off bugs from her trees.

Whenever there is a rain following a dry spell, the water coming off the roof of our house is black.

Why is it that the admin rules forbid so many things, yet many TV poster's avatars promote those things which are forbidden to post? Isn't that a bit of a double standard?