Valentine

Fibre 2U is all over Phuket with various packages ranging 1,490 Baht for 10 down 1 up connection. When I first had it installed it was great for a while but since 7th October the download speeds were reduced by about 90%. Curiously though the upload speeds have generally been higher than they originally were. Others in Phuket are experiencing the same slowdown since October including ADSL subscribers. Prior to Fiber 2U I had a 6Mb ADSL connection which consistently rated around 4,000 download speed but again since the 7th Oct those speeds have dropped considerably but not by 90%. TOT people I speak to do not know or are not allowed to tell the true story of why they have slowed down but it seems they have throttled the bandwidth rather than opening it up more to accommodate the increase in customers. It is also possible they are now lumping Fibre 2U & ADSL together.

I never understood why white plates take so long. So much easier if the dealers kept a stock of them & issue straight away. It would save a lot of paperwork & the necessity of paying a deposit for a red plate.

This topic has been well covered but you need to be there in the morning as it is no ordinary renewal. For 5 years you will be required to pass some tests, watch a video, & you will most likely need a medical certificate. It has possibly changed but those are what I had to do when I got my latest 5 year renewal in the old building.

In which city (town) is the old building, and how long ago was it when you got your last 5 year renewal.

The old building in Phuket Town is still there, you drive past it when heading to the new building/test centre. It was 2 or 3 years ago, my licence had expired & I went in not long after my birthday so I ended up with an extension of just under 6 years. Several months ago my twin girls had their licence renewed from the one year to 5 years & they were in & out in less than an hour.

I first went to Kan Eng 2 about 20 years ago & it has not changed much. It is still my favourite seafood restauarant & as KB said the local Thais are usually there in abundance giving it a thumbs up.

The whole story has more holes in it than a Swiss cheese. It is very hard to know what parts contain some form of the truth.

That's what I thought ...

Me too. Could be they are paying minimal deposit for new cars which are then "stolen" although seems odd to me that finance company will let a new car out the door without 1st class insurance. Maybe the scam is quite deep.

I was trying to work out how it happened but then noticed the U-turn in the photo so assume the Swiss guy miscalculated whilst making the turn. The U-turns on that road are extremely dnagerous due to most vehicles travelling at such high speed. The option of putting in traffic lights certainly makes it more safe but severely restricts traffic flow. Elevated U-turns are abetter solution but imagine the cost here is too expensive when one takes into account the land issues.

yep, seems like the biker placed himself in front of the car, and this being in the right lane he didnt seem to have anything to there in the first place

Its a 90kmh road, and i would guess impact at 40-70kmh, so for some reason car did not go at normal speed

Just a guess, just like the other posts here are guessing, but she could have applied the brakes.

There are no brake marks in the photo but she cannot have been going too fast as she is stopped not long after the u-turn. Still another incident highlighting that safety takes a back seat due to the cheap option.

This topic has been well covered but you need to be there in the morning as it is no ordinary renewal. For 5 years you will be required to pass some tests, watch a video, & you will most likely need a medical certificate. It has possibly changed but those are what I had to do when I got my latest 5 year renewal in the old building.

New DLT boss, new rules

Everyone must now do reaction, colorblind, movie.

Be there before 0845, or you are to late. Renewal done by 10

Just to clarify, this was Phuket December 2011, after new DLT boss had started his work

I tired to copy & paste a photo but it did not work.

Ben sauna on Chao Fa West opposite the turnoff to Big Buddha.

Yes, forgot about that place. A couple of the local Thai wives (married to farang) go there for saunas.

This farang also goes there for a sauna after many years of using The Hide Away in Patong.

You could try asking the gold shops where or how they calibrate their scales.

You always here people complaining about the honesty of Thais

Nearly all the major crimes committed here except for shootings are committed by foreigners

Some examples would be good. I realise that foreign criminals are becoming more of an issue here but my belief is they rarely can operate without a local partner (or they will be quickly neutralized) just the same as legal businesses need local partners.

I should have worded it better, crimes involving bank fraud

You do not see photos of Thais in the PG only foreigners on a regular basis

What local partner your wife, a lot of the employees are Burmese not Thai

Perhaps they are operating independently but I am sure if the local mafioso got hold of them they would be forced to part with a large part of their ill gotten gains. Land scams are up for grabs again which need local involvement yet they continue to flourish as none of the top guys, nor most of the underlings, ever get put away.

However, the OP is more about one on one rip offs at a personal level although I feel his was pretty minor compared to the time spent with his partner. GF was just telling me about a foreigner who killed himself at a pistol range in Pattaya after some bar girl releived hom of his savings.

I was trying to work out how it happened but then noticed the U-turn in the photo so assume the Swiss guy miscalculated whilst making the turn. The U-turns on that road are extremely dnagerous due to most vehicles travelling at such high speed. The option of putting in traffic lights certainly makes it more safe but severely restricts traffic flow. Elevated U-turns are abetter solution but imagine the cost here is too expensive when one takes into account the land issues.

Ben sauna on Chao Fa West opposite the turnoff to Big Buddha.

You always here people complaining about the honesty of Thais

Nearly all the major crimes committed here except for shootings are committed by foreigners

Some examples would be good. I realise that foreign criminals are becoming more of an issue here but my belief is they rarely can operate without a local partner (or they will be quickly neutralized) just the same as legal businesses need local partners.

What about the Expat who parked his car on the street in Chalong only to have a drunk female crash into it at 4am while he was in bed sleeping?

He ended up in court and even jailed.

If he had been Thai, it would have been a non issue.

As a westerner, we are considered atms to some, including police and they will implicate you if they think they can get a drink out of it.

I'm sorry but I fail to see the connection. The guy was convicted in court, and there is no question he was guilty. So this has nothing to do with 'stopping at an accident where you have no involvement and still getting the blame'.

Why do you say there is no question he was guilty? Even at night that part of the road is well lit & anyone but a blind man would fail to see a car parked there.

Whether or not people could see his parked car has nothing to do with the issue. He parked illegally.

I agree as the right hand wheels were just slightly over the white line but there has to be some culpability on the part of the deceased. He was made an example of because unfortunately someone died even though in all likelihood the girl was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or just fell asleep. In the mornings I always see female pillion passengers asleep & I assume they are night workers.

Everyday hundreds of cars park illegally on Chao Fa West, one only has to look outside the Supercheap mini marts, the ice shop, garden shops, used car dealers, etc yet nothing is done because as always the police are not proactive. Years ago the authorities declared Chao Fa West a 4 lane road yet there are very few sections which could actually lay claim to that especially when the inner lane becomes a car park. Safety & traffic flow are of no concern to those whose only interest is to turn a profit.

Is this an orange flip flop type post?

This topic has been well covered but you need to be there in the morning as it is no ordinary renewal. For 5 years you will be required to pass some tests, watch a video, & you will most likely need a medical certificate. It has possibly changed but those are what I had to do when I got my latest 5 year renewal in the old building.

He had probably done it on many occasions before. I once worked on a crew which maintained the railway line from an iron ore mine in Western Australia. There was a story going around about how the Thursday Islanders liked to take a nap under the huge wagons in the heat of the day until one of them had his legs chopped off when the train moved. I always used to be amazed by how Thai people I have known could just curl & sleep just about anywhere, anytime, even on a couple of 4 x 2s straddled across a couple of saw horses.

Will anyone else be held responsible for this poor man's death & at least make some restitution to his family. Here is another case of poor maintenance but in all of the horrific accidents in Thailand I do not recall any of the transport company owners ever being charged. There was talk of charging the gas tanker's owner after the horrific explosion in Bangkok but I don't think anything ever came of it.

I sometimes wonder about staged accidents on dark roads at night for the sole purpose of robbing anyone who stops. The road between the Honda dealer & Kathu strikes me as being a good place for this type of setup.

What about the Expat who parked his car on the street in Chalong only to have a drunk female crash into it at 4am while he was in bed sleeping?

He ended up in court and even jailed.

If he had been Thai, it would have been a non issue.

As a westerner, we are considered atms to some, including police and they will implicate you if they think they can get a drink out of it.

I'm sorry but I fail to see the connection. The guy was convicted in court, and there is no question he was guilty. So this has nothing to do with 'stopping at an accident where you have no involvement and still getting the blame'.

Why do you say there is no question he was guilty? Even at night that part of the road is well lit & anyone but a blind man would fail to see a car parked there.

Embassies don't put out these warnings without good reason. I think we should take note and act accordingly.

Back before Terriorists were used to scare people into submission only 70 people per year died through "terriorist" vilolence. Even these days the only people dying through Terrorism are those invading and occupying their countries.

Terriorists treats are used to manipulate your thinking in so many ways. And it's working. The number of rights and freedoms you have given up over the last 10 years is amazing. The trillions of dollars lost to your ecomony through this false threat. And you are still listening to your government about terriorist threats. It's just designed to hold you in fear. Do you walk around in fear of Mosquitos? Statistics say you should be 1000x more scared of mosquitos than "terrorists". If you want to avoid all treats just dig a hole and bury yourself.

There have been hundreds, maybe thousands, killed in India by terrorist bombs & I do not recall that it has been invaded

Another senseless tragedy & overwhelming sadness for the husband. If the witness report of the accident is accurate then it pretty well sums up the attitude of many concrete truck drivers (as well as others such as mini bus drivers) who see no problem in speeding & tailgating on busy roads. The probable cause for this may well lay with their bosses who impose strict conditions to ensure they get to & from their destinations as quickly as possible aka the greed money making factor without any consideration for public safety.

It's a pretty normal thing here & if it makes your wife feel good then it will reflect back to you. I always relate the tale of a friend who had a spirit house at his home in Kathu which was on the corner of steep section of the soi. A couple of cars had crashed into his wall so they asked the shaman to check it out. He asked them what kind of food they were leaving out & they said the normal things rice, pork, fruit etc. Ah ha, therein lies the problem as the spirit was a Muslim so after they stopped leaving pork there were no more crashes.

My bank in NZ were on the ball a few years back. They called & asked if I was currently making a $2,000 transaction in Shanghai. I said no as I was in Phuket at the time. I never heard anymore about it & nothing showed up on my statement.

Saw a news item about an expat from Kathu who withdrew 5,000 from an SCB ATM on Nanai. The next day 160,000 was missing from his account. He said 3 men speaking French stood behind him while he was making the withdrawal but did not attempt to help him. This is the advice from SCB.

- Never allow anyone to “help” you use an ATM. If necessary, walk away and use a different ATM;

- Use only ATMs in high-traffic areas with CCTV coverage, where skimmers will find it difficult to fit their devices without being detected;

- Check the keypad. If it is not flush with the surface around it, don’t use that ATM;

- Use ATMs that have a “tongue”, usually of green plastic, sticking out below the card slot;

- Change your PIN number frequently.

The recent postings seem to be about whether or not to recommend Phuket and whether or not there are repeat arrivals. I was hoping to see an update on the actual subject of this thread. Are fights & bashings between customers & tuk tuk drivers all that common to warrant all the alarm being generated considering it is only a very small percentage of people who use the service (yes I use this term loosely). BTW I do not condone random acts of violence whatever the reason nor do I condone the many unsavory business practices throughout Phuket which mainly involve visitors & just because it happens elsewhere is no justification.