Tropicalevo

when I first saw the headline, this is what I read "Thailand Emerges as Medical Haven for Somali Pirates"

Great photo. I thought that bandits stopped wearing masks years ago.

Oh dear. Someone woken up. Drug driving (Including cannabis) in many parts of the UK is now more common than drink driving. Google it. No one in Thailand tests for cannabis when there is a problem/accident/death. People assume alcohol. It is an easy (old fashioned?) solution requiring no effort. And we all know how lazy the police here are. I have watched stoned guys, struggling to get dressed when I had to get them out of a villa, and then getting on scooters and wobbling off down the road. Another time, three stoned (out of their heads) middle eastern gentlemen threatened to kill me after accusing me of stealing their very expensive weed. I can assure you that was real, boy.

They stopped the bins because property owners do not pay the council tax. Fix the problem. Pay the tax and bins return. Oh dear. The lads were having a bit of fun. Remember that? I pick up garbage every time that I go for a walk. Put it in a bag and take it home. I have done this everywhere that I have lived. It does not cost anything and it helps the environment. I think that is a better thing to do than to be a keyboard warrior complaining on a web site. I do something to help to keep a small part of Samui clear of garbage. I live on a quiet part of the island. Lots of rental villas but no heavy tourism. Quiet clean beaches and great views. Too many weed shops but hopefully that will stop soon. I love living on Samui (24 years). My wife died here and so will I but until then, I will keep picking up garbage.

This shows the biased legal system in Thailand. Worse even than the Red Bull killer.

It's amazing that when stoned folk do something stupid, the weed affiliates blame alcohol. It is their stock excuse. Do they sell alcohol in weed shops?

Oh dear. Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.

I wonder which one

Well done to those rescue teams. That looks like a very tricky operation. As Georgealbert says, not much left of the plane.

Sorry to hear about your accident PoorSucker. Hope that you have a speedy and full recovery. No advice from me - sounds you have the bases covered. Stay well young man.

From what I have seen/heard, very few owners pay the garbage tax here on Samui. 'Old school' Thais burn their garbage. Lots of new villas are now owned by foreigners, the majority of them not paying the garbage tax. That is why the local Tessabaan removed all of the public garbage bins from the streets. No one was paying the tax.

Not sure if the Thai garbos would have appreciated that - no going through the rubbish for the recycling. Good on the lads though.

Whether you need to report or not is down to individual Immigration offices. Some say yes, some say no. On Samui, it is a money earner so I always report when I return to the same home for 24 years now. Here, immigration go out and knock on doors now and again and everyone that I know who has applied for a visa extension is always asked to show their TM 30

We did not have current wills (see my previous post). We were in the process of re-writing them having just sold a property. That is why it was a probate case. We only have one court on the island. Any provincial court would be on the mainland. No offence taken.

Not enough. They come up through the pipes and drains.

Not if you both have wills. If in probate, then yes - her parents have a say. Easy to get around. Parents and siblings wrote letters to 'whom it may concern' stating that they had no interest in my late wife's estate. Judge signed everything back over to me. You do need to be married though.

I registered a new car (and other things) in my wife's name as she was 10 years younger than me and statistically should live longer than me. (45 and 55 years old at the time) Then dammit - she went and died on me 10 years later. No real hassle getting everything back but it took six months and a solicitor to manage the probate case. (No will - we were in the process of writing new ones.) Like you, I trusted me wife - she trusted me to do the right thing. Her dying was not in the plan.

Maybe because the reporters asked Thaksin and not the PM. Was she even at the interview?

Better yet, change the car.

I suspect that he is out on bail so that he can negotiate the compensation, which is the norm here. If he does not offer enough money, then we may possibly hear about this case again. When the family report it to the social media folk.

So get your butts down there and buy their stuff. You are the problem and the solution.

Good dog! Glad the folk are OK but sad that they have lost their home.

It's a numbers game. Taxi drivers assume that most foreigners are tourists. They know that tourists very rarely report them. I had the same issues back in '93 when I lived in Asoke. No meter on - get out and catch another taxi. (Smart phones were not a thing back then.)

I suspect that they are paid by the number of deliveries that they make (or the number of sacks that they sell). Same as the water truck drivers and the cement truck drivers. All driving like maniacs to make one more delivery before they finish for the day.

And that is why so many younger folk are screwed up. They think that social interaction is with a phone.