Sherlocke

I chose Singapore - the place was empty when I turned up.

You give other possible reasons why the airport could close, in a vain attempt to justify the actions of a paramilitary takeover of an international airport.

Ridiculous.

Your description of mostly middleage women and kids with hand-clappers as para-military is indeed ridiculous.

The "middleage women and kids with hand-clappers" arrived well after the paramilitaries had blockaded and already taken control of the airport.

I should know, I drove past them into the airport as they were setting up the road blocks and there weren't any women and kids amongst them. There were however, young, fit men dressed in camo and dark clothing, armed with sticks and poles, and wearing masks and balaclavas over their faces.

Get your facts right please.

yes - and you make sure you actually know what you were looking at too!

Suing in Thailand is as redundant as a glass door on a shithouse.

What needs to happen is more "ordinary people" (tourists) make comments about Thailand from within their own countries. An example headline could be something like;

"Imbeciles, please grow up.

This is what some tourists from <insert country> said after experiencing the airport shutdown in Thailand. They also said......"

So much for wishful thinking

well over all Thailand is still a good country.

When I read about the checks for foreigner at US airports, than I see the inconvenience about the airport shutdown 50 % easier.

...and the relevance of that comment is??

Again with drink driving we get a lot of opinions voiced blaming OTHERS for the problems of drink drive.

I would say there is nothing worse than listening to an overweight farang complaining that the motorcyclist he just hit came out of a side street without looking......when the OTHER side of the story is the FARANG had been drinking (only a couple - honest) and he would have been able to avoid the cyclist if only his inhibitions and reactions hadn't been affected by alcohol.

With the 15 day entry stamp issued on entry by land.........

Is there a limit on the number of times you can do this?

You think?

looks like I touched a nerve with some "alco" posters and I reckon you're just trying to bluster your way out of public embarrassment.

A response that only underlines my point.

Now I suppose now you'll go and have "just one for the road"?

THere is nothing vicarious about it at all - Whether or not he voiced an opinion - and he clearly felt the need to justify himself - is irrelevant -

I'm not defending him, I'm pointing out that there is an underlying attitude towarsds alcohol here that is unhealthy - why on erarth do you feel the need to take up this point as if I've made some great insult to drinkers?

Quite frankly I don't think that views like that are funny and that he chooses to think they are is more of an indication of the posters own childishness - we are talking about drink drive here and flippant comments like that aimed at belittling the other poster's opinion, betray an underlying attitude towards the issues surrounding alcohol and its mis-use

The national limit is 90 kmph - if you exceed it you are breaking the law - so that is your choice. you leave yourself open to prosecution is the police should decide to do so. It may also leave you open to dispute in any incident or collision you are involved in whether it is your fault or not.

You are unlikely to be stopped for speeding if travelling near this limit as police seldom have radar etc - however there are other simpler ways to detect speeding.

If they decide that the offense for the day is "speeding" - you are likely to be stopped regardless of your speed and required to either pay a fine or a bribe. - the bribe is usually 200 baht for foreigners.

You may of course resort to common sense and drive at a speed that traffic and road conditions dictate........some people seem incapable of making a fair judgement on this though.

Who, me?

Sorry to disappoint you... the last time i drank something that contained alcohol (apart from cough syrup) was about five or six years ago, and the last time i was actually drunk was a few days before i got my motorbike driving license. That happened when i was 20 years old.... i'm 34 now. So i am unlikely to ever end up in a cell due to drunk driving And i don't do other drugs either, i don't even smoke

Kind regards.....

Thanh

Please don't tell me you are a vegetarian virgin as well. If so, you better kill yourself now.

this epitomizes the childish attitude to alcohol that is so prevalent amongst expats (and of course drunk drivers!) - to suggest that drinking or drug taking is in any way "manly" or indicative of sexual prowess is really got to be one of the most stupid things I've seen for several week on Thai visa.

....and using the terms vegetarian and virgin as an insult???? - how very very sad.

One would assume, or at least hope, that any monies gained from this action would be immediately passed on to the passengers and other people who have experienced loss or damage as a result of that disruption.

....or is it just a malicious roundabout attempt to penalise political dissent in Thailand?

"Officially its around 8%" do you have a source for that?....admittedly I'm splitting hairs here butI've read it's between 6 and 7%

National limit is 90 kph 120 on motor-ways

"It may sound good to find information about a good hotel beforehand etc. but I don't recommend that you do it that way." - ditto as said above.

Caffeine drinks - I'd be VERY careful about anything that keeps you awake "artificially". By all means drink one if you are desperate to continue for an extra hour or so but to rely on those things for hours on end is highly dubious. You may be awake but that's only half of it - you still have to gauge your mood, judgment and reactions - caffeine is not at all totally positive in these areas.

there are multiple problems with driving at night.

visibility is the main one - humans are not endowed with night vision.

add t that the effect of heavily tinted windscreens and you have a recipe for disaster.

Furthermore this lack of visibility is exacerbated by many road users who either can't afford or don't see the need for proper lighting on their slow moving vehicles.

another appalling habit is the indiscriminate use of rear fog lights in either normal conditions or rain - absolutely the wrong thing to do - but it shows other motorists you can afford fog lights.

Roadwork's are frequently virtually unmarked - signs etc being non-reflective.

the road surface is now usually OK but there is NO guarantee against unmarked/unexpected potholes - especially after the wet season - sometimes big enough to burst a tire or remove your suspension.

There is always the chance of meeting an errant buffalo, .....and of course if you see a CD floating around about 6 feet in the air you are only seconds away from driving up the arse of an elephant..........

Certainly the poorer sections of society benefit least in most cases and are frequently are deprived of land ownership their own business etc as a result and have to work for wages and hours set to benefit only the hotel and big-time owners.

Stop aged farangs trying to drive like they did at home - only drunk!

"Harmony" and "unity" are simply catchwords used to demonize those who have justifiable grievances in Thailand

Best not to stick rigidly to an itinerary - you don't want to be driving into the night to get to a particular hotel.

I usually start looking for a place late afternoon and avoid driving in the dark.

The roads are in general good - you have 2 main options for routes - across near Chumpon to the West coast or continue down to Surat Thani and cross over that way. both offer scenic roads the latter goes by Kao Sok National park.

Allow one to 2 nights stopover e/w. If you can allow more time there are plenty of places worth staying for a day or so.

I usually just take any hotel that turns up - bit of an adventure that way.......there are plenty on the route.

One tip - if you are unable to find a hotel look for the neon 24 hour signs to the "love" motels - they are seldom more than 650 for a double room for the night and are dotted about everywhere, usually just off the main road.

I am all for this one, if they ever manage to pull it off.

However the cops will be way too busy harassing motorbikes for entirely made-up "offenses" so they won't have the time to check anyone for alcohol levels.

And even if they manage to catch a drunkard by chance (probably because he was on a motorbike) it will be the usual 200 Baht straight into the cop's pocket and he'll be on his merry way again.

regards

looks like this character might spend a night or to in a cell this Xmas!

Some of you people who hang out in Pattaya, Suhkumwit, etc are vastly overestimating your, and other tourists, importance to the economy.

very common to see a "centric" approach on such figures by expats - especially Westerners who seem to think that without the West Thailand wouldn't exist.

Sounds panicky to me.....resorting to ideas that even rank and file thai folk will find childish in the extreme - what next? free ice cream if you don't go to a redshirt rally?

It seems to have escaped some posters that whatever the cost of a DD "accident" a misnomer if ever there was one; it is of course no such thing - there IS a cost - not just medical/insurance - there is the social cost - loss of bread-earner - incapacity due to injury or alcoholism, the effects both financial, physical and psychological on dependents even victims employees will suffer.

With even the smallest amount of alcohol in your blood your reactions and abilities to judge (loss of inhibition etc) are altered negatively so ridding people (including, apparently some posters on this thread) of the idea your can drive safely with alcohol is a great goal, but this legislation will do absolutely nothing in that direction

No one is in favour od DD! - the issue here surely is wether or not this is an effective piece of legislation - I would give it a resounding NO!

I'm sure this law will be applied inappropriately and people will be locked up who haven't had a drop - procedure will be ignored and the police will just "do" who they want.

A ridiculously draconian law which will be imposed not by the government but by the police who will of course not be able to act impartially.

It will be impossible for Thailand to change overnight from being a country with "liberal" DD laws to one with some of the most draconian in the world -

People will be unfairly convicted and any law carrying a mandatory" fine/sentence is liable to create all sorts of problems.

as ever this is some idea cooked up without any forethought whatsoever and as such is domed to failiure