ChiangMaiFun

exactly... bring on the election! Army shooting protestors is disgraceful - Abhisit and his sidekick Suthep will never be forgiven

But protesters shooting solders and burning buildings and bombing and grenade tossing are ok, right CMF?

I consistently post against violence - by any side - and I am also against security forces shooting into temples and killing people - no justification apart from if they were being shot at (which I understand they were not). It is always up to any government to take the 'high ground' and show restraint - I agree law and order should prevail and would support a peaceful 'Ghandi' style protest which would serve the reds better in my view.

Now I agree. Your previous remarks should and can be safely ignored.

Not at all. The discussion further highlights your ongoing attempts to gloss over the actions of a brutal, corrupt, politically-interfering military.

exactly... bring on the election! Army shooting protestors is disgraceful - Abhisit and his sidekick Suthep will never be forgiven

I assume that this general statement is again an 'opinion only'. Myself I still hope and pray for reconciliation.

well the election is about many 'opinions' right? so let's see... right? you do agree with elections?

exactly... bring on the election! Army shooting protestors is disgraceful - Abhisit and his sidekick Suthep will never be forgiven

Funny, I think that the army shooting protesters was exactly what was needed at the time - the opposite of disgraceful, it was commendable. I suppose that's the freedom that democracy truly offers, but is unmentionable to a Red Shirt.

But I agree, Abhisit and his sidekick Suthep will never be forgiven by those who still blame them... even if their orders as released to the public were less forceful than the army's actions. I think that says more about those who still blame them than either Abhisit or Suthep.

so you will support this in your home country?

IT WOULD SEEM IT IS. AS OTHER PEOPLE STATE THEY SAW IT.

Is that supposed to be a convincing argument for the tweet's legitimacy?

The fact that the Twitter account has been hidden is telling though, surely?

The deceased are deceased and the families are the only ones that now can deserve justice but most would much rather see themselves and their family get something positive from the death in terms of money. Looking up a girl who made a horrendous mistake without knowing anything as to her state of mind or if she has past incidents of recklessness really would serve nobody at this point unless they have a westernized and revengeful nature. We simply just do not know all the facts this soon into things and much of what is being posted is rumors and misinformation to insight people simply because this girl's parent's last name.

Instead of demanding the head of a minor, people should be asking how she came to be behind the wheel and if an adult allowed her to drive knowing her age.

I have read all of Nisa's posts and have yet to see a single statement which isn't clearly valid? I completely understand the emotions in play, but people must understand children are children. The issue here simply has to be a discussion about children driving motor vehicles that can (and quite often) kill. It should not be a discussion demanding this girl be made an example out of, on the basis of her last name (though I completely sympathise with the sentiment, I just feel anger directed at a child is tragically misplaced) and from the alleged (seemingly brutally cold) Tweet she ostensibly authored (medical shock is SERIOUS BUSINESS - you cannot make judgements about the girl from anything she wrote whilst clearly in serious shock - a cold reaction laughing at unspeakable horror is actually very much the expectation and even the function served by the human body going into shock).

I might be speaking from a position of bias as I very nearly partly contributed to a similar horrific accident at her age. Zero malice or 'criminal negligence' involved (not from us kids, in any case - the RTA were probably culpable in licensing us), just sheer childish inexperience (both drivers), neither of us were qualified to drive, we were just kids who shouldn't have been at the wheels. Everyone emerged from the cars without a scratch via sheer luck, but it could easily have been...shudder. Both of us were in shock and laughing idiotically immediately following the near-disaster, and I'm quite certain neither of us were 'bad', 'cold' or even 'irresponsible' kids - shock is serious business,. We spent the day dry-retching in horror when we came to. As this girl might well have, once the shock subsided.

Tragic stuff all-round. RIP

Yes but it's not just about that is it? it's about the culture here of irresponsibility - letting kids ride bikes and drive cars - paying people off if they get caught or cause damage etc. In this case it just highlights the total cultural irresponsibility and that's why there has been such a reaction - she's just a catalyst. This sort of thing could happen everyday of the week - the driving here is appalling - most of it lack of education and training but most of it sheer selfishness. Tragic... wasteful loss of life.

Beano.. this is were you are wrong.. the message came from the driver Pear.. but was re-tweeted by Super....and many others... This has been confirmed by people who saw the original tweet from Pear before her Twitter account it was closed.

please clarify - it's a fact? that she tweeted she 'may have killed' people followed by 555? it's hardly believable

Only complacent hippies believe in Karma. How about Thanon Kittikachorn. He massacred Thai students in the 70s and went on to live to the ripe old age of 94. Karma, likes ghosts, just does not exist.

Anyone who goes to Pattaya has their reputation tarnished to a certain degree (joking) lol - if he was indeed innocent. I am glad he found justice. If he bought his way out, karma will take care of him - case closed.

Just because he died, doesn't mean his Karma stopped. There is no free dancing.. Everyone has to pay the fiddler.

we are veering way off thread... but karma is dynamic and casts its influence over many lives - to look at a single 'rich' life and say 'there is no justice - there is no karma' is pure ignorance

Only complacent hippies believe in Karma. How about Thanon Kittikachorn. He massacred Thai students in the 70s and went on to live to the ripe old age of 94. Karma, likes ghosts, just does not exist.

Your assumption is that living here till 94 was a prize? You have not considered that maybe the prize was withheld from him many extra years and many extra lives yet to serve.

spot on - the poster does not understand karma

why should the poster even want to 'understand' philosophical mumbo jumbo? off to the seventh realm with you!

coming soon, Thai authorities declare Lee Harvey Oswald innocent

'mumbo jumbo'? karma is an ancient philosphy taught by all major world religeons which quantfies and explains the 'whys' of existance - to call it 'mumbo jumbo' is quiet ignorant - bit like saying the earth is round is 'mumbo jumbo'

The deceased are deceased and the families are the only ones that now can deserve justice but most would much rather see themselves and their family get something positive from the death in terms of money. Looking up a girl who made a horrendous mistake without knowing anything as to her state of mind or if she has past incidents of recklessness really would serve nobody at this point unless they have a westernized and revengeful nature. We simply just do not know all the facts this soon into things and much of what is being posted is rumors and misinformation to insight people simply because this girl's parent's last name.

Instead of demanding the head of a minor, people should be asking how she came to be behind the wheel and if an adult allowed her to drive knowing her age.

Money is not justice. Justice is seeing someone deprived of liberty the same way the deceased are deprived of their rights to life. A very horrible mistake was made by allowing "Pear" to drive. "Pear" is responsible, and whoever facilitated it is responsible. It is not acceptable to simply pay a few baht and sweep it all under the rug, although that is what you seem to think is acceptable.

Justice will not be served here, money or no. It is a terrible tragedy that the girl and the family will never be held responsible for their actions which resulted in the deaths of 8 innocent people and serious injuries to several more. The girl and the family should be ashamed of themselves, and Thailand should be shamed in the international media for allowing such a terrible precedent to exist.

Money will not resolve this problem. Nothing will resolve this problem. It is the Thai way at its worst. My heart goes out to the families of the victims who will never receive justice for this horrendous act of criminal negligence.

Your heart goes out to the victims but you seem to care little about their thoughts and feelings on the situation. If they are like the vast majority of Thais they will not see justice in locking up a 16-year old girl for an ACCIDENT unless other facts come to light and what they will want to see is that the death of their family member was able to help the family in some way. Thankfully is appears this family may be in a position to help the victim's family considerably more than if it was an average Thai who caused the accident.

I agree the ADULT, if one exists, who allowed her to drive the car needs to be punished because as an adult you need to be held to a higher standard and learned your lessons as a minor where in just about every country the are treated MUCH MUCH different. In fact in the US there is no juvenile justice or law to punish minors and all the laws are geared to help them after they have done wrong. Much is considered such as the degree of the crime, prior offences, likely hood to continue down a bad path, performance at home and in school to name a few things. If a crime is so premeditated and horrendous they can charge the minor as an adult but this ACCIDENT would not cause that to happen in the US. In fact, in the US the press would not mention the name of the minor nor would anybody be informed of the outcome of any punishment or charges levied against the minor and all records of any hearing or crime would be sealed.

See above. Both the girl and the parents need to spend time behind bars for their acts of CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE leading to the accident.

Money can also be paid as part of a civil suit, but criminal charges need to be filed in this case. The girl is not innocent. She was knowingly driving without a license, and 16 is old enough to understand the consequences of that. I don't say give her the electric chair, but she does need a lesson, and jail time is a small price to pay to learn that, given how serious her actions were. Don't be so generous with your sympathy. This girl screwed up bad.

I do have sympathy for the victims, and all the victims in past similar tragedies, and all the victims in future tragedies because certain wealthy people are not held accountable for their actions.

Only criminal charges will make an impact on the families in Thailand that feel they are above the law, and can kill and murder innocent people at their whim, whether intentional or accidentally. "Pear" needs a lesson in life, and so do her parents which facilitated the grizzly scene.

forget money for Gods sake! 8 lives have been lost - money is irrelevant - you are so materilistically inclined

The 15 year old daughter of a resident in our village drives her mother and younger brother around our city. I was more than stunned to see this happen. But she comes from a very wealthy family who thinks they can do anything and get away with it.

I wonder whether the 16 yo girl in that sedan that caused this accident on the freeway had a driver's license. They should the parents for letting an under aged person to drive on the freeway.

The same in our village I see young kids driving cars all the time to and from school and some children as young as 10 riding motor bikes. Traffic laws in Thailand don't really mean a lot.

No they don't yesterday I was in Doi Mai Salong and I saw a 7 year old riding a motor bike the police didn't take any notice. I hope that if this girl is found responsible that she does some hard jail time, the deceased deserve Justice!

The deceased are deceased and the families are the only ones that now can deserve justice but most would much rather see themselves and their family get something positive from the death in terms of money. Looking up a girl who made a horrendous mistake without knowing anything as to her state of mind or if she has past incidents of recklessness really would serve nobody at this point unless they have a westernized and revengeful nature. We simply just do not know all the facts this soon into things and much of what is being posted is rumors and misinformation to insight people simply because this girl's parent's last name.

Instead of demanding the head of a minor, people should be asking how she came to be behind the wheel and if an adult allowed her to drive knowing her age.

so here we go - dead are dead give me the money? that's what you are suggesting? it's 'positive' to get paid? who cares about justice? what a materialist point of view - shared by many I'm sure but disgusting none-the-less

As Arkady has said her Dad is a big Police Chief and her brother is a very famous TV Actor (Taebasadin Na Ayuthaya).

so that's the end of justice then

her twitter account is suddenly not longer available for everyone... <a href='http://web90.server2.kingstaff-server.net/imagehostallsiam/view.php?filename=929pear_devahastin.jpg' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'><img src="http://web90.server2.kingstaff-server.net/imagehostallsiam/images/929pear_devahastin.jpg" />

She look very innocent to me. Not someone who would conduct 8 man slaughter.

This is another example of your tasteless trolls. Not even you could be that stupid.

I'm afraid she could...

http://www2.manager....D=9530000182495 . . . I think you are all wrong. According to Yellow hi-so PAD Manager.co.th, the van was modified to put in a heavy NGV tank at the back, casing it to be unstable and flip over. Also, there is evident, red paint mark on the Honda sedan, mean that possibly, another red car is the cause of the accident, collided with Honda, which then have to choice but to collided with the van. The van should NOT be on the road in the first place, since it was MODIFIED with a NGV tank. Please leave the poor girl alone. She is innocent, and have the physical & metal ability to txt message while over-taking, unlike some old drivers could could not single task; let along multi-task. Please remember that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride ...

She is innocent, and have the physical & metal ability to txt message while over-taking,

Your post, as always, is hilarious and quiet unbelievable

Ha ha... best laugh I've had in ages. Pattaya has dug itself into a hole that is so deep that flattening the place would be the best use of the 15 billions. There's no planned infrastructure, hardly any public transport outside Beach and 2nd Road (unless you count riding pillion on a motorbike with a plastic bucket on your head public transport), slow and unreliable internet, ditto water supply, cars everywhere, traffic jams everywhere, pedestrian zones only in bar areas and shopping malls, no sidewalks except on the main roads, taxis that refuse to use meters and only exist where ignorant tourists can be expected to be found, mediocre beaches with polluted water, most buildings older than ten years look like they are ready to be torn down already...

Apart from low prices, some excellent restaurant and lots of willing (but greedy) girls, Pattaya has very little to offer. It is, and will always be, the playing ground for the horny and the price conscious. World-Class? I guess one can build a World-Class hotel anywhere, but as a travel destination, Pattaya hasn't been World-Class since before they opened the first bar.

yup! who would choose to live there? with so many choices in Thailand? hmmmmmm? let me think... difficult this one...

Good for Mr Pletnev. He must pretty sure that he would win his case when leaving Thailand several times and always come back.

Farangs accused for child abuse happens quite often, where the case is simply extortion. The pianist is famous and properly well off too, so a "good" target for those low life.

I own a small piece of land in Patts. too and I don't live here for the girls but having a very good family life. More and more couples with kids comes to Patts. for holidays, so maybe in 10-15 years times the place will be completely changed, who knows.

wonderful choices in Thailand... why Patt? there are no redeeming features apart from girls - almost everywhere else is better

They dropped the charges - so thats it. Anyone who 'owns a small property in Pattaya' is not entirely 'innocent' - it's not for the culture and the beautiful beach is it? sex rules down there that's it - one big brothel

So I guess there are no brothels in Chiang Mai? Funny, I seem to remember quite a few. If you think that looking down on Pattaya makes your "place" better, I suggest you rethink that proposition. What goes on in Pattaya goes on in all of Thailand.

True

But Pattaya is the only place in Thailand that depends on it completely.

Take them out of Chiang Mai and it would be like removing a pimple.

Take them out of Pattaya and it would be like removing a carbuncle.

that was my point - no one chooses to live in Pattaya for the culture or scenery right? of course there are some here - but its like comparing the the Pope to Lucifer

I think we all agree Thai driving is horrendous - I hate it - so selfish

The Thai news report I was watching on the web last night said the driver of the Honda Civic was 18 and not 16 yrs old. It also mentioned how she had just returned from the US and had one of the surnames that the Thai King bestows.

If 18 she is of legal age to drive AND face charges - the name should count for nothing ('should')

Only complacent hippies believe in Karma. How about Thanon Kittikachorn. He massacred Thai students in the 70s and went on to live to the ripe old age of 94. Karma, likes ghosts, just does not exist.

Your assumption is that living here till 94 was a prize? You have not considered that maybe the prize was withheld from him many extra years and many extra lives yet to serve.

spot on - the poster does not understand karma

The report states the 16y old driver was also killed. Guess she and her family have paid already.

The report says she was being 'interviewed'? so unless the Police have Mediumistic skills I guess she was not?

They dropped the charges - so thats it. Anyone who 'owns a small property in Pattaya' is not entirely 'innocent' - it's not for the culture and the beautiful beach is it? sex rules down there that's it - one big brothel

Now I agree. Your previous remarks should and can be safely ignored.

Not at all. The discussion further highlights your ongoing attempts to gloss over the actions of a brutal, corrupt, politically-interfering military.

exactly... bring on the election! Army shooting protestors is disgraceful - Abhisit and his sidekick Suthep will never be forgiven

The whole culture is 'we don't care - we don't have responsibility' Mummy and Daddy will fix it - it's an utter disgrace

April 1st already?

I might be looking for the hidden agenda, but is this salary increase supposed to buy the support of more police officers for next year's election showdown ?

yup...

Not a great surprise... welcome election time soon! - but get international mods in to ensure fair play