Daveyh

3 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

Somebody had to pop their head out of the rabbit hole & find those kids....It happened to be them....

 

If these 3 guys were not here it would have been someone else from a another country and the kids still would have been found safely given the efforts of all involved.....

 

Pretty much end of story....

Hmmm ....... not so sure about that. The UK guys were lucky to find them & they were the first to admit it. Read previous posts before you post ............ it could have all gone "pear shaped", but for pure luck in surfacing where they did.

These UK guys did not do this for any reward or monetary reason. It is the effort by them for the sake of humanity that matters most. We as Europeans think differently than our Asian cousins, hence those who took part in this fantastic rescue will definitely receive some form of recognition. The Asian members of the group will almost certainly expect & receive monetary awards, plus various honours bestowed upon them by the Thai government, but the Europeans of the group will not be expecting anything other than a polite "thank you" for their help in the rescue of the boys trapped under ground. It's the Thai mindset here to expect it & you have to understand the culture here ....... events like this are easily forgotten, tragic or otherwise, hence the monetary thing & rewards solve everything .... & they move on.   

Steer clear of any confrontation with the authorities here if you can ....................... you are on a loser from the word "go'. Even if you are, in your opinion, in the right & feel you have done nothing wrong to argue is not going to improve your situation at all. State your case & stick to it. Definitely pay no money on the street if they ask too much ... a couple of hundred baht to avoid the nausea of wrangling's with locals officials elsewhere is well worth it ........ if they insist on heavy fines then opt to go to the police station. Make a full report of the incident & ask for a lawyer. Which ever way you look at it it's going to cost you money, but in cases where your misdemeanor is minor it will be cleared up quite quickly & you'll be released. You don't have many rights here I'm afraid & if you have no one who is going to tell you what they are without a "fee", hence you have the "shitty end of the stick" ........... it's a case of "dog eat dog" in most situations with authorities here! Lawyers will "skin you alive", so be careful who you use for your defense ...... everyone loves to eat, especially Thai's right? .... 555. Trust no-one .......... just try to stay out of trouble. Good luck.

Thai's will never comply fully to road traffic laws ....... fact. Mum's & Dad's allow kids to ride motorcycles to go to school ..... how else do they get there? Not all Mum's & Dad's drive their kids to school ..... if they did we would not see 4 kids on one bike in the mornings & afternoons at peak travel times .... fact. I cringe every day seeing these kids taking risks in conjested traffic.  I've seen some "Yellow" school buses around. I wonder what schools operate these ...... possibly private one's, but it's not a very common sight. Mostly schools have large carparks to accommodate all the bikes used daily by students ..... all jointly owned by student's families ..... fact. The government here acknowledge the problem, but nothing is ever done or they just pay it "lip service" for a while until it goes away. There are no public or school bus services to take kids to school, which I think is something the government should be doing ........... but it's like waiting for paint to dry ........ Taking care of future generations is so important, but it will never be seen as a priority here ........ sad.  

1 minute ago, Happy Grumpy said:

The amulets protect them. 

If you believe this as a foreigner (?) albeit "tongue in cheek".................. what chance have the Thai's got?  ..... it's the "kiss of death" ............ pure fantasy, but someone is making a nice living right? ......... judging by the number of amulets on just one necklace! 

First of all Thai's cannot & will not be told to do anything, irrespective whether it's well meant or not! Probably the only place they do take notice is at home or in school, but once "school is out" all is forgotten. All that remains then is in the home where they do obey & respect their parents & elders of the family, hence this is the only place 24/7 where education can really take place. Sadly, due to the lack of a solid & robust educational system this doen't happen as the government has failed nearly every family unit to provide this. It's a very complex subject here in Thailand to know what to tackle first as the culture here has remained unchanged for so long. People are reluctant to change, see nothing wrong with their way of life, but all of them would like to see democracy back in government. You will never change beliefs here, their fondness of freedom to do what they want as individuals & no matter how many sensible laws & rules are introduced to benefit the country as a whole it'll not make one iota of difference to people's way of thinking. Thai's are unique & they are a "one off" when it comes to "mindset".......... It's never gonna improve & that's why "it is what it is!"............ enough said "time for a beer" ;-)  

It's a Keelback looking for gecko's etc ....... he's on the hunt & hungry. All Keelbacks have rear fangs, which are used to kill their prey with venom. Most Keelback venom has very little effect on humans, perhaps some redness, but that is all. Due to their rear fangs they must chew to inject venom. Hence most bites to humans are "dry bites". There is one Keelback that was always considered harmless, but recent reports are now saying that people have had severe symptoms when bitten ...... this one is the "red necked" Keelback (google it for a photo), it is aggressive when approached. As with all snakes they avoid contact & try to disappear quickly, but look where you are walking & don't corner them. I've always admired snakes at a distance & they can live quite happily in your garden. The removal of really venomous snakes from your garden is best left to the experts who will remove it for you to habitat far away from you in the forest. They've just ventured too far looking for food ... cheers.

HenryC ................ DIY around the house is ok. You're not working for anyone for financial reward, so a "work permit' is not required. I understand what you say that the workmanship is poor & they don't take criticism lightly as they seem to think it's a "loss of face thing" that creeps in with every negotiation with a local ......... hence, difficult getting anything done to a reasonable standard. I've made many mistakes paying them for their work as they progress, but now I refuse to as when they get another job on their books with better financial reward they fail to show up period. I make it plainly clear from the start that I only pay for materials whilst they do the job on sight of a receipt. Once the job is finished to my satisfaction I pay them in full. Normally once the rules are established I manage to get "almost" all what I want ;-) ........... but everything is "up hill" here & the golden rule is to be on your guard & trust no-one.

I've tried having a plumber, electrician & general labourer on call if I need them, this works for a while & then they either move away or find full time employment, so you are back to "square one" again ........... there is no easy answer here sadly to getting anything done. I've waited days for people to turn up & they don't ......... phoning is another problem where you don't get answers .... very frustrating & deep breathing is always the cure!!

Best of luck with your DIY ...... I too do quite a bit around the house to stave off the boredom & never had a problem. Cheers   

Anyone proven guilty & convicted of such crimes should in my view be castrated. I don't care who they are. It's a crime that any society should really rid themselves of. Those castrated would be cast out from society forever, which in my opinion is their just deserves. Those foreigners that commit such crimes give all of us expats a terrible reputation which will be irreversable if something is not done soon. Most of us expats are in our sixties & are in Thailand on Retirement Visas & want to live a respectable life in our twilight years. I can see a time coming soon when all retirees wishing to retire here will have to go through stringent criminal checks & procedures, which will be a sad day for all of us. I just hope the Thai authorities have a "One strike & your castrated" policy SOON on individuals that commit such horrendous crimes & refuse entry visas to known offenders unless of course they wish to be castrated. If everyone took the same "hard line" view as myself this criminal act would quickly be addressed & children in this world would be living in a safer societies. Why we tolerate these individuals in Europe etc & still allow them to travel free around the world to commit further abuse to children is beyond my comphrehension. I think if Thailand took the lead on this one no one would blame them. These people are the scurge of society & I would support the death penalty for second offenders.

It's the right decision and very fair in my opinion. Let us all put this to bed. let the healing process begin and get the country back on it's feet as soon as possible. Too many people have suffered todate because of it ........... let's move on to a better life in this wonderful country.

If you are a volunteer charity worker I believe you can get permission to work without a Work Permit as long as you receive no form of salary. I seem to remember that members of the Pattaya Expats Club in Pattaya were allowed to do charity work without work permits at local schools as long as they were registered with the Immigaration/Thai police & received no rewards of any kind. Perhaps this was due to the low key status of service to the community (ie. Local charity work) it was possible to do this.

However, any work for registered charities in Thailand must provide work permits for volunteer charity workers. It has always puzzled me why "Urgent Needs" of this type are not exempt from all the red tape that exists here, especially work permits.

Any Thai consulate in the UK will issue you with the appropriate visa as long as your passport is in order. I obtained my OA visa from Liverpool, which only took a day by post. Excellent service. There was a fee for this but I cannot remember how much, but it was not expensive.

If you are going to be working in the Chonburi area check out: ([email protected]) Pattaya City Expats Club has loads of info about expats helping expats, plus a host of information of requirements for visas, driving licence, work permits etc. They meet every Sunday & if you go there with a problem there is always "Open Forum" for Q&A's, someone will have the right answer for you.

Whilst you are in the UK e-mail all your concerns to: enquiries (at) thaiconsul-uk.com