Sydebolle

Another dinosaur law for only one sole reason - "power" over everything. No smoking or drinking at the beach, beach chairs only on Wednesdays in Phuket and all other absolutely mindless idiocy spring to mind ....... But no panic, most places dont give it a toss, sell the booze 24/7 for the benefit of the industry. So let them talk .........

Well, after almost 300'000kms in Laos over the last decades ...... no surprises anymore, except that many "fixed", "repaired" and some "new" roads have a short shelf life ......... regretfully

You cannot enter Vietnam with a left-hand driven car; exception permits to be issued in Hanoi only. Tedious process and not worth the effort; been there done that.

Second that, correct. What you might have to do is to get a new re-entry permit into the new passport, if they do not transfer an old (yet still valid) one form your expired passport. Latter I do not know as I always switched passports without any valid endorsement/re-entry permit.

I cross into Laos weekly and wish to correct the following: - if you hold a driving license issued by an ASEAN state (i.e. Thailand), then an international driving license is not required - the roads are like Europe looked after WW2, it is a real challenge to drive from Vientiane to Luang Prabang in one day meanwhile. The Kasi bypass (Road 4C) requires a 4WD at times and can be closed completely due to the ongoing land slides while the old 13N remains a pothole challenge in its own right. The road from Oudomxay to Phongsali is impassible as a landslide sent the entire tarmac into the river. Here some urgent action might happen as it had cut off Boun Neua and Phongsali completely off the grid. Road 13S from Vientiane to Thakhek is also in disarray. As Laos is - by all accounts - technically bankrupt without any light at the end of the tunnel for the time being, you might just keep above in mind when travelling overland through Laos. The trains though run flawlessly except that the entire booking system is a huge mess.

Suvarnaphumi Airport and this building was apparently built by the same company; one of the big wigs of this company is presently so busy with the Ministry of Public Health which might explain the leak. In addition to all this, the extension of Suvarnaphumi Airport will be undertaken by the very same company ..... I hear. But then some other ministers of this gifted government ordered some submarines in their wisdom so everything is OK and a leak cannot derail this government for sure, unless of course, the not yet commissioned engines for the subs would not make it in time ????

He was meditating about what watch he would love to borrow from one of his many watch collecting friends ........

Total disintegration of the Thai society - full stop. Somchai the driver's responsibility is, each and every time, to check, if and what is left behind in the van. Would he have done that = child alive. Yaovaluck the teacher's responsibility is a roll call in the morning, unless that has been verified at the daily raising of the flag/National Anthem intermezzo. It might have also been possible to discover an empty chair in the class room. Last not least, teach the children to report, if they think, somebody is missing. No need for expensive software, which Khon Thai cannot handle anyway and usually does not work.

At 3 a.m. on a stroll to enjoy the vibe? She must be a hell of a dance instructor then ....... Having said that, it is despicable by whoever groped the woman but, as said, 3 a.m. strolling around in Thailand's biggest city of ill repute ...........

You get voted into office on the countryside but rule in the urban environment (of Bangkok). Abhisit, certainly qualified and has all the tools to run a country, will not make it as the grannies and uncles work on Somtam, Likae, (cash) handouts ..... the works. Put Anutin or Thammanat in charge and nothing happens, except possibly the statement of bank accounts of some might rise further .........

Go easy on the submarines .......... Look at central Europe where the basic education is free. Actually it is not free - of course - but it is paid with taxpayers money so everybody chips into education funds as ultimately everybody benefits of an educated work force. Apart from university degrees a much more important education element is vocational college. In i.e. Germany and Switzerland the student attends one or 1 ½ days of business school, where professionals teach the youngsters on a focused job-related basis. Cooks are taught about hygiene, how to handle food and the work place they are working in. Commercial apprentices learn basics of how banking, financing, accounting works together with business laws and basics like 10-fingers typing on a keyboard as well as the framework of trade (letter of credit, international shipping, insurance, the works). That education system is still taken up by the majority of students which formulates the economic and commercial backbone of countries like Switzerland or Germany. Result is professionalism on the whole as well as research and development which is needed to keep these countries ahead. As said, no submarines which are completely useless except for those pocket liners and Bob's your uncle!

There is a freedom of speech act and everyone is the same in front of the law. What a non-Thai has to learn and accept is, that the freedom of speech thing might apply to Thai nationals only while everybody, Thais as non-Thais, are the same in front of the law. On the latter it helps to understand, that some are samer and/or more equal than others. Quite simple actually ????

I have the strange feeling that I've read all this over and over and over again ...... Do not hold your breath, as usual, nothing is about to happen nor will happen. To the best of my limited knowledge, the entire seaside of the walking street is illegal, no building permits, no nothing .... keeps pockets lined for decades. Hence question is, why change a winning horse and just take the (third party) risk of a (bon-)fire once in a while. Go figure!

???? joking again ........ Could anyone come up with something new as the "no driving on pavement" is sooooooooooo old and worn already?

One can only guess, how many millions have had to change hands while others are booked into the slammer for stealing mushrooms off a national park. This explains explicitly the implementation of law and order and no wonder nobody takes the legal system of Thailand seriously. What a hopeless farçe .......

Kettle, pot and black spring to mind ...........

I've travelled many times between Pattaya and Bangkok airport. While the blue Roongruen had its fair share of Thai customers at 113 Baht, the Bell Travel Service showed 90% or more non-Thai passengers at 200 Baht. For an extra 150 Baht they now crawl through Bangkok's notorious traffic jams ...... time will tell, if it works or not. For all the others, get off the Roongruen services at 131 Baht, take the skytrain to Morchit (Chatujak market) for 42 Baht and catch the A1 or A5 bus to Don Meuang for another 30 Baht. Add the costs, throw in the various vehicle changes (think of luggage) and you'll end up with Bell's service for 350 Baht.

I am really surprised, that they get absolutely everything wrong here in the Land of the Semi-Divine. For crying out loud, why not having a look, how others - more professional countries which arrived in the 21st century quite some time already - handle the issue. My family name includes an "umlaut" being an Ö which is shown as an Ö in my passport. Internationally the Ö becomes an OE and at every second screening (and there are more than enough of those at Swampy) the screening officer calls the supervisor to get the approval to let me pass. My wife's Thai passport omitted the OE in lieu of the Ö. After having created even more confusion if checked just one after the other, we let a few passenger pass through those safety nets of aviation between both of us. As I have a middle name, not used by me and hence not shown on boarding passes, confuses those security "experts" even more. Having two "dirty farang" and eight counters for the semi-divines explains it all. I am sure that those scanners come at a price per unit for which you could erect half an airport somewhere else on the planet.

"now-suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha" 1) you forgot to add "General" and "Defence Minister" in his ever-growing title 2) the government's fooling around with the 50.0000000000001% or more in any juristic entity kept i.e. Volkswagen from not investing hunderts of millions of Euros in Thailand; countless previous PMs travelled to Wolfsburg, were welcome and ........ sent home without anything 3) the same set of governments has not realized yet, that neither the Chinaman nor the dirty Farang can roll up and pack a piece of land into a suitcase and disappear to foreign lands with it. So, why would a government prefer the Red Brethren in the North compared to any other nation elsewhere? 4) be warned over the latter as China meanwhile legally bought themselves into agriculture, infrastructure and/or logistic domestics of survival importance; Australia, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Sri Lanka as well as countless African and South American "deals" shortchanged the respective governments in favour of China ......... without China forcing them to do/sell/rent/lease out anything. Take your time and get your homework done before the pens are readied ????

I'm not at risk, I get Italian tomatoes called "Pelati" in cans and the nasty virus cannot penetrate cans while the container ship carrying my tomatoes is in transit through Indian waters ...... Wonder what happens when the Thai media goes to town with the "Durian" or the "Somtam" flu. Darker days are ahead soon, lets wait and see what the fellas come up with next!

"Police are investigating the cause of the accident." Education springs to mind as well as the possible fact, that a 14-year old might be able to reach her 15th year WITHOUT looking at the phone while driving ....... I see this each and every day but then, what to expect in a country, where motorbike drivers where the perpetual coronaphobia mask but no helmets? Go figure!

And what good is this pink ID card, if at all? I am a PR and managed easy with my driving license and nobody sofar could explain the purpose nor the importance of a pink card ........ All the rest (red police book, blue house register, white residence booklet etc. is clear.

Ah, the yearly showtime again - this year though in late summer/early autumn. 20, 30 years ago this stage show took place in March. They invited diplomats and the media and after steamrollering the staged "destruction" they all went for lunch.

You're aware that the increase from 200 Baht to 354 Baht happened in a mere eight years. I just wonder, if the individual worker's output increased that much as well as, if not, the labour today would be less efficient. Take 354 Baht and multiply by 30 (if the worker clocks each and every day of the month) and you'll get 10,620 Baht while the government acclaimed minimum is apparently 12,000 Baht. The result is, that nobody wants to work anymore; rather enjoy Somtam back home, do a little house work and carpe diem. With a salary of 12K I would say, that Thais exists but cannot live. Get the government's little fingers out of all those tills; the free market will decide if, when, how much and where to do what. Thai workers earn manyfold on Singaporean construction sites, in all sorts of jobs in Scandinavia, Middle East and Northern Africa hence replace the vacuum with the AEC2015 stipulated treaty of free movement of people within the ASEAN area ........ and Bob's your uncle!

Well, other sources referred to Prawatch as the actual power man and puppet master behind the scene. He certainly has as much power and influence as his ability to nap in any thinkable location, position and discussion. He'll have his 15 minutes of fame before the younger apes are trying to climb the eternal tree of money, corruption and neo-slavery. Meanwhile others might have a look at Thailand's household debt which is toggling at +/- 90% of the country's GDP - now THAT's much more it. Tip to Prawatch and his friends, fans and underlings in all those government uniforms; take while the taking is good, ensure more submarines without docking port nor engines, funny bridge studies from the mainland to Samui island and a rail system not even the British managed to finish 80 years ago. Thailand - quo vadis?