3 hours ago, sanemax said:

Did Ivana and Melania enter the USA illegally ?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43256318

"Melania Trump obtained US citizenship on a visa reserved for immigrants with "extraordinary ability" and "sustained national and international acclaim", according to a report in the Washington Post.

Nicknamed the "Einstein Visa", the EB-1 is in theory reserved for people who are highly acclaimed in their field - the government cites Pulitzer, Oscar, and Olympic winners as examples - as well as respected academic researchers and multinational executives.

Mrs Trump began applying for the visa in 2000, when she was Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model working in New York and dating Donald Trump. She was approved in 2001, one of just five people from Slovenia to win the coveted visa that year, according to the Post.

Becoming a citizen in 2006 gave her the right to sponsor her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, who are now in the US and in the process of applying for citizenship. 

The reports of how Mrs Trump obtained her EB-1 visa will rankle with some, at a time when her husband is railing against immigrants and attempting to scrap the right of new citizens to sponsor family members. And questions have been raised about her suitability for the extraordinary ability category."

4 hours ago, phycokiller said:

guilty until proved innocent

If one isn't on the same side as The C-Government, one will *always* be found "guilty". 

Criminal Law in Thailand: The Thailand Penal Code is the codified system of law, or body of laws concerning crimes and offenses against 'the public' (including the Kingdom of Thailand, the King and certain members of the royal family) and or against another person and prescribing a penalty for the one who violates it.

 - I've had a look through the Code, but I couldn't find anything about a law concerning "damaging the image of tourism in Thailand".

Can someone provide any information about this Law ?

Meanwhile, the sale+(over-)use of pesticides banned in Other Countries continues to damage the health of Farmers (and Consumers) in Thailand.

6 hours ago, 1337markus said:

Maybe while he is CNX he can check the illegal BIB motorbike checkpoints.

Even the Deputy Commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau does not have sufficient authority to do that.

13 hours ago, idman said:

Thank you very much for bringing this innane post of yours to its end.  Regardless of your admissions or excuses or attempt at clarification you were stupid enough to leave home without a proper motorbike license.  Case closed, anything after that is on you.

Oh dear, I've fallen foul of TV's Inane-Police.

[Note: the word is spelled "inane", and not "innane": I used to work for TV's Spelling-Police.] 

I understand that working in the Inane-Dept. is a truly thankless task: one has to spend one's free-time reading all-the-way-through one's quota of threads (especially those in which one has absolutely no interest), checking their level of inaneness, and then taking the time to post one's conclusions.

I salute your level of commitment.

 - Keep up the good work, and hopefully we can all contribute towards an inane-free environment.

I'd now like to end this particular thread.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to post something here.

Here's what I now understand from this incident:-

The Policeman was correct to tell me that I would/should be fined for not having my motor-cycle license with me.

When he showed me the card which showed that the "official" amount of the fine was Bt 1,000, I now understand that I was supposed to negotiate a lower (unofficial) amount with him.

When I didn't do this, he was then in a jam. [Clearly he didn't have much/any experience with people who *didn't* try to negociate with him.]

He couldn't tell me that [1] he'd made a mistake with the amount, and that the fine was only Bt400 (?), and [2] he couldn't arrange for someone to write out a Ticket for me, because the Ticket would have been paper-proof that I had been overcharged for the infraction ( - does a Policeman have to identify himself on the Ticket when he writes it out ?). 

Under the circumstances. the Policeman did the *only* thing that he could  - [1] he *had* to keep the money (because that was the amount that he had shown/quoted to me), and [2] he *had* to get rid of me, as quickly as possible, without arranging for a Ticket to be written out.

 - The "joys" of Officialdom's "Face"; and the "Face" of Traffic Police corruption.

I have learned several new things from this incident.

 - Thank you for your help/attention.

[And if the Policeman has children ... I'm sure that they'll grow up being very proud of him.]

38 minutes ago, johng said:

 

 

Seems there was "misunderstanding" on your side.

 

Johng,

Yes, you are absolutely correct  --  I should have written "there were no *language* misunderstandings".

12 minutes ago, stevenl said:

And you told him you wanted to pay the fine in full and get a receipt in which language?

Our entire conversation was in English.

I am certain that the Policeman's knowledge of English was sufficient to understand exactly what it was that I wanted - there were *no* "misunderstandings".

6 hours ago, daoyai said:

I call BS ... because as we all know our saintly PM has abolished corruption.

 - I *truly* also wish that it *was* BS.

10 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

1,000 baht would be for speeding over 130 km/h. You seem to have some credit now....lol

Jenny - I really had no idea what the "official" fines *were* for the various infractions. 

I was sufficiently naive/stupid to believe what the Policeman told me (ie that what he was telling me was the truth, because he was a Policeman). 

But I have learned from what Naboo wrote above  ---  ***pay at the Desk***. [Perhaps the Policeman at the Desk is more likely to tell me the truth.]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

And I love the way that the OP wanted the ticket so that he could continue to drive the rest of the day without having to go back home and get his motorcycle license (if indeed he has one).  Interesting how a ticket serves as a "temporary license" here.  

NancyL  --  I had planned on spending my motorbike-day visiting various places around the Moat. I was fined on my way "out" from home, before my first port of call: even if I had cancelled all of my arrangements, I still had to get "back" home (via the Moat).

My understanding of the Ticket-system in Thailand is that the Law/RTP is sufficiently generous that an Offender will be only fined *once* each day for a particular offence (eg not having a helmet, not having a license, broken light-bulb  -  but *not* speeding), and not *multiple* times at *multiple* check-points throughout the day for the same offence.

It is my belief that Thai People use Tickets in this way, and that it is *not* considered as "gaming The System", rather it is a feature built into The System that The Little People might use.

(This is also how The System works in Europe.)

 -  On the other hand, you would appear to consider that the use of this facility *is* "gaming".

  --  But you have been living in Thailand for much longer than I have, and so I invite you to correct my knowledge on this point if I'm wrong.

I think that I've been clear in my post(s) here that I was in the wrong, and I'm *not* complaining about being stopped and fined.

Rather, my complaint lies elsewhere.

[And the number of my Motorcycle License is 5xxxxxx7  -  it is valid from June 2009 until September 2020].

Naboo  -  thanks for the info ... I didn't know that I should have paid the fine at the desk; the Policeman never mentioned this to me.  -  I naively (and stupidly) assumed that after I told the Policeman that I wanted to pay the full amount for the fine and get a ticket from him, I expected that after I gave the Bt1,000 for the fine to the Policeman, the Policeman would then write out the ticket for me.

Sp4wnY  -  I wanted and tried to pay the "official" fine *and get a ticket* that would be "valid" for the rest of the day, because I was in the wrong.  

FolkGuitar  -  The Policeman showed me a card, and pointed to the section with a Bt1,000 fine ( - I didn't know what the real/official fine was). As the Policeman waved me away, I was truly speechless (and angry) at the gall and the corruption.  ---  And looking back, l would have to have got off my bike, walked back to him, and then found the right words to tell the Policeman that he had ripped me off by too much compared to the "normal" corrupt amount, and then ask him to return Bt500 of my Bt1,000  -  but ... I didn't do it.

Today I was stopped at a roadside Police Check-point. I was riding a motorbike, but I didn't have my motorbike driving-licence with me (only my car licence).

The (masked) Policeman pointed out to me ( - by showing me a printed card) that the fine for this infraction was Bt1,000, but I was asked to pay Bt500.

I told him that I wanted to pay the Bt1,000 and get a ticket.

I gave him the Bt1,000, and he walked away for a few steps, then he turned around, came back and told me that he wouldn't give me a ticket, and waved me away  -  keeping the Bt1,000.

 - "Police Reform" ? --- Don't make me laugh.

Prayut ... said he did not know whether such a meeting constituted a violation of the NCPO order prohibiting political activities. 

“We will see if the order was violated. The order states clearly what can be done and what cannot. Be careful. Don’t violate the law,” he said.

*

If the order clearly states what can [ = may] be done (and what cannot [ = may not]) ... it is strange that General Prayut doesn't  know if such a meeting constitutes a violation of the order (or not) ?

"Sedition" by demonstrators is currently deemed to be illegal, but (successfully !) organising a military-coup against a democratically-elected government is not.

An odious man, who, over decades, has transformed the country into an odious place.

"The Transport Ministry has set a target to reduce the number of road accidents during Songkran festival this year by 7 percent compared to the statistics for the same period last year, said Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisit on Monday."

 - Perhaps the Minister could have added the sentence  ...  "And I will resign if the "reduced target" has not been achieved."

 - There was alleged corruption at the Protection Centers for the Destitute in a total of 33 provinces.

Were these alleged activities "coordinated" across the 33 provinces ?

If not, then it is bizarre that the local people in charge of the Protection Centers in the 33 provinces *all* [might have] had the *same* idea.

If I were Head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission or Head of the Education Ministry’s Office of Basic Education Commission or Head of the Interior Ministry, I would have arranged for the checks to be done *randomly* and [as far as possible]  "in-secret".

I anticipate that Prof. Puangrat's research wont alter anything  -  on the other hand, the *non-problem* of imported fish caught in the sea off Fukushima will get *plenty* of media-exposure and government-action.

"Corruption" comes in many forms  -  *this* exercise is one of them.  

I wish that I could get a 4% interest-rate on my Thai savings-account.