amarka

I dont really understand what the issue is, give her the 200k.... its nothing for a Westerner and make her happy.... otherwise just get a new girl friend. All girls need money and 200k does not even buy a new car here in the UK.... on the other hand if you dont love her, then thats different.....

If you cant beat them join them. Make sure your fridge is fully stocked and make sure they have plenty to eat too. Join in the fun and become the family hero, instead of sulking and making them feel unwelcome. You will earn some valuable brownie points from your wife....!!!

Yes, what you say is what was reported by the local press and confirmed by the police.

Since then the police seemed to have changed their mind.

why?

money/power/fear/influence.

Who is really in charge of the investigation?

the case was solved days ago but then the big cheese stepped in and paid the bribe

The police have arrested a suspect in the murder of two British tourists in Koh Tao and are still hunting for a second suspect who has escaped into Bangkok.

Eighth Region Police Command commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Panya Mamen identified the first suspect as Mon.

He is the brother of a village headman in Koh Tao.

He was arrested after evidence which police collected were examined and proved he was involved, he said.

He also said another suspect is also a son of that village headman. But he has already to Bangkok.

He said both suspects were captured by CCTV cameras and the police have gathered enough evidence to implicate them in the murders.


the police have gathered enough evidence to implicate them in the murders

Mon refused to give DNA

when he did the results clearing him were done in less than 24 hours...impossible

the son in bkk was cleared on the say so of a couple of witnesses that say he was in bkk on the day of the murder even though the police originally said he fled the island on the morning after

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/one-tourist-murder-suspect-now-arrested-another-run/

.Exactly what I thought, tourists may conduct their internet business online in Thailand, but they only have a tourist visa and therefore cannot stay for a long time and also cannot do back to back visa runs anymore. Seems quite clear to me.

Yes, but remember, you won't be living here on tourist visa after tourist visa after tourist visa after visa exempt stamp ad nauseam. At some point you will be turned down.

I am sure the IO meant that a tourist can come and do his biz for the short time of his visit.

'nuff said

~

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For every 1,000 falang in thailand, how many have visa's and how many just do in/out border runs?
...
Are we looking at 10% on in/out border runs? 20%? more?

The very big majority of farangs are tourists on short term trips (2 or 3 weeks)
so I would think we talk about not even 1% of them...

Sorry, but to be clear I meant people living in Thailand, not tourists

So what kind of a problem are we looking at here? and I am mainly interested in the Falang quota.

For example;

For every 1,000 falang in thailand, how many have visa's and how many just do in/out border runs?

I mean a fairly high percentace will have retirement visas, another high percentage will have marriage visas, some will have normal work permits and others will have other sorts of visas, Ed visa for example. So how many remain without a visa?

Are we looking at 10% on in/out border runs? 20%? more?

And what is the prime reason they are doing this,

Seems to me that there are so many visa options available, so I am wondering why so many problems seem to be occuring.

i bought a coffee for 30 baht or so and received change for a 1,000 baht, i only gave the girl 100 baht. i was a bit confused at first, then i asked the girl, 'is this change right'? she said yes yes, thinking i was complaining maybe. i checked it again and said no it cant be right i only gave you 100 baht. she blushed and seemed to have some sort of recall and said thank you... so many times i ended up more embarrassed than she was...

same sort of think happened in a Bank, i changed euros and the girl gave me the rate for GBP, again i asked her if it was right and she said yes... i pointed out the mistake to her discretely so that her colleagues would not be aware of what she had done.. she was very happy and thanked me so much...

and yes the Thais and everyone else in just about every other country short change people all the time, but there are lots and lots of honest mistakes too.....

Whilst perhaps not presented in the most eloquent way, Jackrich has a valid point.

Demonstrations and counter demonstrations have according to recent Thai history attracted violence from all sides, including shootings, beatings and of course murders and assassinations

It is therefore obvious to most to assume that this sort of behavior will continue. Therefore if you don't want to put your life in danger, don't get involved in demonstrations or counter demonstrations.

No one can say they are unaware of the risks.

When you prevent millions of people from exercising their voting rights you are bound to make a few bad ones angry. Killing someone is always wrong but he knew the risks of his actions and paid the price.

That statement is BS if the highest order ...

How dare you make a statement that it OK that a protest leader should be shot dead ... because 'he knew the risks'.

If the protest or action was illegal ... then the Police and not an assassin should address the situation.

Red card for you sunshine ...

Hi can you please tell me if i can get into the main branch of the Bangkok Bank on Silom road or is it blocked?

Imagine if they start offering rewards to snitches of visa overstays.

i have wondered about that a few times, of course it is possible that it is actually happening already!

Sure there are a lot of problems where there are a lot of tourists, I think this applies to anywhere in the world.

A lot of tourists are drunk (and drugged) and cause the Thai's a lot of problems too. The general behavior of many tourists leaves a lot to be desired, I mean the tourists are supposed to have money and come from generally better educated economies (the western tourists) but if you watch some of them, then you can see its only a matter of time, sometimes only hours before they get themselves into problems.

you can see the problems when they are arriving at the airport, the way they dress and behave - its hardly surprising that there is a reaction from the Thai side.

having said that, Thailand as a developing nation needs to fix its own issues, irrespective of the issues with foreign visitors.

Agree - Thailand is not resposible for his death

A Britt dies in Thailand likely because of his over indulgence and we have to read a story that largely talks negatively about the area of Thailand where he died.

All nations have certain quirks in their culture but is not taking responsibility for ones own actions and/or needing to lay blame on others a common trait among the Britts?

Ooooohh

i guess the Russian just fell over....like they usually do!

Russians can be very agresseive when they drink, so anything can happen... what was he doing in a dark soi so late... he was drunk and looking for someting is my guess....

Baaaaaaaa

Always a "GROUP" of Thai blokes bashing one farang. Never hear of a one on one fight, they are like wild dogs once they drink a tiny amount of alcohol. The Russian would of probably snapped anyone of them in half one on one, &lt;deleted&gt;*king cowards!!!!

Time to go to bed...

The Thais will sort this out - without our help, as they always do... its their country not ours.

By the way I probably pay more taxes than most of you, but I dont have a Thai wife or Thai kids, and Thailand is just another place to do business.

Does having a Thai wife make any difference? I would say its easier for me to exit Thailand......

its strange how those with Thai wives think that they are somehow more connected, I guess it really depends on the pedigree of the wife.

amarka

Didn't this crap start when the military removed an elected government from office?

Yes and they tore up the constitution too- not such a good idea really!

Hi…

In my opinion the situation is fluid and today’s political decision can be easily overturned sometime in the future, depending on who is in power.

It’s a compromise for now, but will hopefully lead to a more peaceful political landscape in Thailand.

I support Thaksin, but believe that any return by him to Thai politics would rip the country to pieces; therefore I hope that he cannot find any way back and I hope that he can accept that this is the end for him. Even though he did do a lot of good for Thailand his reputation has been badly tarnished by some of the poorer decisions he made and I actually think the court has reached a good compromise, providing Thaksin can keep the balance of his wealth.

It is a way out for Thaksin and a way forward for the country and I hope that he has the dignity to accept that his return to Thailand and politics would not be in the best interest of the people he once served.

Time to move on.

amarka

Process-wise, does Thaksin have any rights to appeal the decision to any higher level of Thai court??? Or is this verdict the last stop on the judicial circuit???

Most certainly, if he has or can find any recourse whatsoever, it would seem most likely he will pursue it...

Not many people, especially Thaksin, are likely to willingly accept a verdict taking 46 billion baht out of their pockets...

P.S. - My question does not imply any support for the individual involved. I'm just hoping somewhere, somehow this can all be put behind the country for its own good and future. There has to be an end somewhere....

Forgot to say, not into any posh place just a bit of space between me and the

Noise next door. if you know what i meen.

Hi - i know of a good new house, fairly large detached single storey for sale close to Ao Nang/Krabi for around 3.4m will go to 3.0 i am sure

pm me if you want more details.

amarka

Yes....

a tuk tuk driver took me to my hotel and told me 500bht

i said no it should be 50bht - i had no idea of the price really!

of course we were both pulling the string the other way a bit... anyway we settled on 300bht i think......

but i only had 100bht in small change and the rest in 000's so i gave him the 100bht and said i'll give you the rest tomorrow.... he looked at me with a wry smile and i stumbled away towards my room.

i never saw him the next day, it was a few days later later whilst i was walking down the beach road, i heard his voice shouting at me - he was laughing too and make a joke of the situation. He made me smile so i called him over and gave him the other 200bht...... he was very happy! me too

after all a deal is a deal! - oh forgot to say, i got free entertainment too on the way back to my hotel, he was telling me all sorts of wierd jokes - almost crashed his Tuk Tuk he was lauguhing so much!

amarka

Can anyone say anything positive about any tuk-tuk anywhere in Thailand?

They are noisy, dirty (terrible pollution!) , rude, dangerous, dishonest and all around bad news.

I guess it may be part of Thailand's identity, but I feel they should make Tuk Tuks a thing of the the nostalgic past.

Well, Phuket tuk tuks are a true disaster

But I wouldn't complain about Chiang Mai and other places in the North

Many times I got a great service there, been charged very modest price and many drivers could speak pretty good English

hi....

so does anyone know what this is all about.

what disputes did he have?

pretty serious stuff..... this was a serious exection style killing.....

amarka

Blowing him up with military grade explosives isn't exactly your average bump off the competition with a .38 revolver.

Sounds like someone is sending a very clear message going to such extremes.

Very well put - I am not sure what this was all about but this is a very strong message and shows connections above and beyond a group of foreign real estate developers

most of these people are not "tourists" - real tourists dont stay that long!

these are people who are working black, not paying taxes and so on.

if you have a job get a work permit - where is the problem..

amarka

Go Thailand Go, drive more tourists away! Tourism only accounts for 6% of GDP (323.5 billion baht)......hmmmmm, guess they don't need us!

as far as i know neither the U.K or the U.S.A support military juntas....

Thaksin was the elected P.M of thailand overthrown by the military Junta . so the U.K would never extradite him back to Thailand anyway.

amarka

"The government is checking if Fiji has the same extradition law as England,"

If it has, wouldn't that mean they wouldn't extradite him? I thought the reason for the UK revoking Mr T's visa was to avoid any possible embarrassment, I don't think the UK extradite to a country where prison conditions are as bad as they are in Thailand. Hence the reason why the UK is looking allocate money to refurbish a prison in Nigeria so we can move approx 400 prisioners back to their home country.

i really think that K.Abhisit does not want this either.....

otherwise he may have to ask the future Pm - K.Thaksin for a pardon for his mistakes!

amarka

My prediction is: The extradition won't happen. I doubt Abhisit will ever be successful in extraditing Thaksin.

yes......

and in thailand all you have to do is go more rural to save a lot of money or reduce your trips to bkk/etc...

and even if thailand was as expensive as the UK - you would still be on a winner..... imho

dont worry about what sterling cant buy you - be happy with what it can still buy you and be happy and enjoy!

according to the doomsday clan the world is comming to an end and thailand will be no more

amarka

If I had to go to bed and place a suitcase underneath that bed, filled with the currency of my choice, that would be all I had when I woke up in five years time I would say that sterling would be pretty much high on my list of choices, as would be yen or the dollar. It certainly wouldn't be the Thai baht.

So come on then what would you like to have in your suitcase ?

Waking up in say seven to ten years time, I would be very happy with a suitcase full of Thai Baht.

Considering the gravity of this crime and the utter inhumanity of attempting to burn someone alive, I find the jokes and the pedantic insistence on insulting the Nation's english reporting to be, in the very least, in poor taste, and at worst, callous, insensitive and lacking in any kind of human compassion.

thank you.... the cruel and callous comments, lacking any compassion are a sad reflection on the members of this forum. Quite disgusting really

Land of smiles eh....

what kind of person could set fire to another person?

we are probably talking about an unemployed drug addict or alcoholic running low on cash and making visa runs every month and should not even be in thailand at all.

the police really need to crack down on all these illegal people who are ruining thailand and the reputation of the expats who work and pay taxes and respect the land and its people.

amarka

Appears as though his bra fell off too...

hi...

yes know the type....

visa runs every month

bars and booze every day

no work

little money

and people still wonder why the thais want to tighten up on visas.....

amarka