ingvar

Why do they need to do this crack down?

It is widely known that Thai people don't drink, dont have sex, never fight, never steal, never lie and are virgins until they die of old age, so why the crackdown? maybe they need to get the drunken tourists under control?

The rude behaviour when entering any public transport and elevators, doors,whatever is not uniquely Thai but is a typical Asian feature and happens everywhere in Asia for example in China, Indonesia, Thailand.

I have no idea why this is but I know that when I grew up in Europe nobody had to explicitly teach me hoe to enter a door or public transport, just seems common sense to let people out first and wait your turn to enter.

A police investigation revealed that Mr. Oleg and 4 friends had been diving out on the small coral reef that is located off the Tha Yai beach, when he came up from the reef he was subsequently hit by a speedboat, dying instantly. It is alleged that the position at which the accident occurred, was well into the prohibited area reserved for the numerous boats that pass-by on their way to and from Pattaya and Koh Larn.

The captain of the single outboard engine boat “Kantarat 409,” Mr. Ritthirong Punthula [47] from Naklua, explained to police, that at the time of the accident he was transporting a full boat load of tourists back to Pattaya from Koh Larn. Mr. Punthula stated that as he was so far out from the beach and well in the sea lane that is provided, he had not been expecting anyone in the water at this point. He also stated that when he had noticed the body of Mr. Oleg he did not have enough time to avoid the tragic accident.

Police Colonel Suweera Songmetta informed reporters that Mr Punthula will be arrested and charged with negligent and careless driving occasioning death whilst a drug and alcohol reading will be performed. An examination of the boat and its equipment will also take place over the coming days.

Note: A very similar accident to this occurred in Pattaya on the 7th of January 2006. The victim was Miss Chanida Wongsarat, [26] a Thai computer programmer. Miss Wongsarat was similarly diving in the water when a speedboat ran over the top of her whilst she was rising from the seabed.

The report did not say it happened at the koh Larn beach, but near koh Larn, it could have been one of the smaller Islands just North East (Koh Sak, Koh Krok) where I for example very often take my student divers for their first Open Water Dives. These Islands are Ideal for training and very seldom visited by speed boats.

However some times there are speed boats there which is unavoidable anywhere outside Pattaya. Using a marker is rather pointless as the speed boat drivers doesnt care or do not understand, very frequently you see a speed boat speed right over close to the marker. What most drivers do not understand is the difficulty for a begginner diver to maintain their level in shallow water, especially when a bit panicked from having a speed boat drive right over.

Whenever I use a marker when diving near koh Larn, you will see drunken tourists on Jet Skis drive circles around the marker, they simply do not understand the danger, assuming that maintaining the depth for a diver is an easy task.

At last a topic worthy of the vast brainpower available at ThaiVisa!!

I myself have to live in celibacy here in Thailand because of all the Hobbit condoms in the shops.

I have a friend with excessive earwax, should I tell him about the implications?

Yes! those dastardly pirates should be burnt at the stakes and after that hung by the balls in the town square! Arrrg!

Linux user.....

It is at times like these I am happy that I use Linux and Open Source software

However I have noticed that when they Cyber guys come around our area, all shops and businesses seem to have closed for the day, all windows and shutters closed...

On a legal point, I would think that if all computers in a company are owned by the employees; for example everyone has a laptop financed by the company in part but owned by employee, everything on the computer including all programs and data is the property of the employee. In this case the company should not have any responsibility at all for what is on each employees computer, I think? Also in this case the company have no rights or responsibilities over the content in the computer?

It is at times like this that I am so happy I am using Linux, its free and its better!

I am always amazed by the incredible efficiency of the Royal Thai Police, 3 days to find the guys among 65 million people.

And here we are, some 20 years after the Saudi thing and no clues so far.....

News from September 19, 2010:

A NGO has filed formal complaints with Police at Bangkok Muang Police Station against a number of Thai Television Soap Opera shows and related TV stations.

National Police Commissioner General Sukhumband Matrvartikhul said in a press conference:

"A NGO have filed complaints agains a number of broadcast networks for tarnishing The Thai National Image and trying to portray Thai people in a bad way".

An anonymous source within the department said that the complaints related to the repeated scenes of violence, rape and beatings of women in Thai TV series that portray Thai people, especially upper middle class, as savage and primitive people prone to fighting, beating and abuse of fellow family members and servants.

Poor Payoon Homewong, I think the puritans will burn him at the stake for this!

After all, there is no prostitution in Thailand and all women are virgins, even married women.

As Usual on this forum the discussion degenerates into "We know best and go home if you dont like it here" rambling.

What I think is the topic here is the unfair way people coming to Thailand to do just about anything are treated. The whole tourism industry, immigration, work permit, visa, extension of stay, permanent residency, Thai citizenship are all geared to ripping off foreigners in one way or another, like no other place in the world that I know of.

To get a WP you need to invest more than you have, to start a business you need to invest more than you have, to get a permanent residency you need to pay more than 200,000 baht (with additional fees and such) and when you get that permanent residency you must ask for permission if you for any dumb reason need to leave the country for a short while.

The establishment tries to rip you off in every conceivable way the moment you step off the plane at Swampy.

Now what is wrong with someone who has some skills in teaching SCUBA and likes it; to teach it here in Thailand without having to ruin themselves? After all it's not like it is going to bankrupt Thailand. In fact there would not be any Thai Instructors or Divemasters today if it where not for the Foreign contribution to the Dive Industry, just like many other industries in Thailand. What is needed is a more fair way that foreigners are treated in terms of fees and other payments. I don't mind paying taxes and applying for work permit but it should be at reasonable costs!. Why can't a foreigner come here and work and earn less than 50,000 Baht/annum? what is so horrible with that? and the rule about 5 Thai employees for every WP issued, what is that all about? If I am allowed to work and payed a fortune to get that workpermit (and business) the rule of decency and ethics say leave it be at that!

I will not use the usual rambling about European countries allowing foregneirs this and that free of charge or at minimal fees or even support money as this is not Europe and the situation here is unique, but the present system is clearly not there to facilitate business but to rip off foregneirs.

As an additional note; it takes somewhere around 250,000 Baht or more to become a PADI SCUBA dive Instructor (from rookie diver), an investment in itself that few Thai can afford. This is why the safety standards with Internationally certified Instructors are much higher than your average backyard "I was in the Thai Navy" Instructor.

The money is mine,

I can recognize the bills, they had little numbers on them saying "1000" in Thai and English and there was a silver stripe down one side difficult to see.

I am the owner, give me the money!

About time soething was done about this drug thing...

Its a poorly disguised attempt by the diabolic farang to subvert the innocent Thai youth into drug addicts and pushers.

These foreign drug users should be arrested and put in prison for life.

About time they cracked down on this, These foregneirs coming and going at will is just a thinly disguised attempt to take over the proud country of Thailand. They should be arrested for high treason and put in jail for life.

This is nothing but a veiled attempt by some elements to overthrow the Government by trashing the reputation of Thailand. The best place to do this is at Suvarnabhumi of course.

Since this is a blatant attempt to overthrow the Governement, the culprit should be punished in the hardest possible way, life in prison for trying to stage a coup in this clandestine manner.

Actually trying to rip of tourists arriving at the airport can be construed as an attempt to disgrace the Land Of Smiles and deliberately trying to tarnish the reputation of Thailand. This is similar as treason and so when doing this at the Airport, the tugs who are orcestrating these activities (the guys behind it all) should be charged with high treason and be given the death penalty.

As I understand; if you are American (from U.S.A) you can own a company 100% and operate it without Thai staff. It is some special agreement between USA and Thailand.

Sometimes I wish I was American....

I am quiet surprised about some of the posts here saying they never or rarely reported.

I have been here for 13 years now under working permit and always did the 90 day reporting. Sometimes I am late by up to a month and the officers make a very big fuzz about it. They put a special stamp in the passport every time I am late and the more such stamps I have the more complaints I get from the officers when I am late the next time.

In the beginning when they enforced the law long time ago; when I was late at Suan Plu I had to go to another building and was interrogated by a police officer (not immigration but police) as to why I was late before having to pay the fine and get the compulsory stamp of "this guy was late again".

I do not understand how other guys get away with being late or even never reporting so easy as they say in this forum.

After listening to the file I have analyzed the sound: it is: Eng oap oaaak!

Strictly from the law he must have a WP.

You cannot even wash your car in Thailand without a work permit. The logic being that a Thai could do the job so in a sense you are stealing a potential work opportunity from a Thai.

But I wouldnt worry about a 2 week "coordination" trip, that is grey area and difficult to define under Thai law as this would not steal any job opportunity from a Thai.

Whenever I can find an alternative to the medical establishments medications, I will try the alternative first. Reason is Medical establishment always go for what they know at the moment without any considerations what effects may occur down the road since the clinical trial for any medicine only are carried out for a limited time before release and after release nobody cares until something actually happens many years later in which case they start to investigate. A perfect example; new reserach find that some of the vitamines that are recommended by medical establishments and produced by various pharma companies in very pure form actually are found to be quiet ineffective as they need to be accompanied by related compounds from their natural environemt to be assimilated by the body properly.

As for allopurinol there are a number of side effects listed, what worries me is that the medical establishment cannot explain how these sideeffects is produced from allopurinol, only that they do occur. This tells me that they do not fully understand what exactly happens when introducing the medication into the body. Of course I would not hesitate for a second taking Allopurinol if I did not have an alternative.

I am sure Allopurinol works, but I would be careful about the dosage as overdosage may not be a good thing. Reason why I think this is Allopurinol inhibits purine synthesis in the body. Purine is very important for DNA and RNA as well as many other body functions. Purine can only be synthesized in the body. So I would try to dose just enough to keep the Uric acid levels in check. Again I am not a medical professional so this is only my opinion.

As for Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), please note it is ONLY the vinegar that helps. some health shops sell something like apple cider pills or whatever, these do not have any effect whatsoever.

I do not take ACV only for the Gout. If ACV is consumed regularly one will notice an improvement in skin condition and other benefits as well such as cold and sinusitis releif. It is a well known substance for weight reduction. I have also noted that I can go for weeks without taking ACV or any other medication and still not get any Gout attacks. I cannot report on actual blood uric acid levels during the time I do not use ACV but I know that they are low when taking ACV, I tested.

Katana, The dosage is all on the web, earthclinic. There are a large number of different recipes. I like to use it as salad dressing too, delicious! Remember it MUST be ACV with the mother i.e. unfiltered.

I bought Apple Cider Vinegar (I'm visiting in the US right now) at a grocery store. It must not have the Mother, because I cannot see the mother in the bottle. It's clear ACV. I tried ACV for gout relief from this ACV without the Mother and I think it's working after 1 days of two doses of about 1 1/2 tablespon with about 20 oz. of water.

I'll report more.

I do want to find ACV in the grocery store with the Mother, however.

You just pour the ACV with the Mother into the water bottle, correct? you don't need any of the Mother, directly?

Thanks for the info Ingvar.

I just pour it with the mother (shake bottle before). I think the mother has many other health benefits but of course I never tried without the mother so I do not know for sure. Braggs ACV should be easily available over there, it comes with mother and there is even a little label with a nice dosage recommendation. They give a recipe for a refreshing drink. I have heard some saying ACV works without the mother but some say they did not get any results from this but got results with the mother load. I think it depends on individual body conditions.

When you start using ACV I would overdose a lot first couple of days; I would take a shot in the morning with 6 tsp in a glass of cranberry juice. and then during the day drink from my 1 litre bottle mixed with 9 tsp of ACV. to take away acidity I would add 1/4 tsp of bakingsoda if using for a long time (more than a month). However served chilled the ACV is actually kinda tasty, if you can stand the smell. After a couple of weeks it should be ok to reduce to about a glass a day with 3 tsp ACV in the morning.

If you are taking other medication such as colchicin continue taking first 2 days and then try to reduce slowly and carefully.