sfm

Pattaya Beach Road, just after midday today, 12th Dec 2014.

When the policeman stopped me outside the police station I found it OK.

After all, I had been speaking in my mobile phone while driving.

Rules are rules, most countries have similar laws and they make sense.

No whining here.

So, off the bike, park it, hand over key, fine written - and the police station conveniently placed right across the road.

OK!

But here the trouble starts.

When I got in there a huge number of people were waiting in a cue.

The room was simply getting too small.

All, just like me standing with their fine in their hand.

I wondered "wow, so many offenders?!".

The next thing that struck me: every one waiting was a non-Thai, with the exception of 3 girls that were with their foreign boyfriend.

Long-nosed do not need to feel discriminated, some Indians were included, and some other nationalities too.

I counted the people in the queue and reached 73 foreigners and the 3 girls mentioned.

I decided not to wait, but come back later.

When I was about to get a motorbike taxi I saw the policeman stopping a western couple.

And, interestingly, they did wear helmets, and did not speak in mobile phone either.

I thought: "Why did he stop them?", and I decided to wait a little. In the next five minutes I was watching.

The policeman routinely stopped all foreign-looking drivers.

Those who passed though were because he was busy getting keys etc. from an already stopped person.

All of them (all of them wore helmets).

And absolutely every one was fined.

No Thai driver license, no original papers, no insurance sticker, whatever.

But not one single Thai driver was stopped.

- - -

Now I was a bit in worse mood. This is not right.

I went back to the station and the queue and aired my frustration to a policeman.

- Why do you only stop foreigners?

- No, see, also Thais

he said and pointed to the queue, that had grown considerably since the 73 counted earlier.

Right he was: there were these 3 Thai girls with their foreign boyfriend!

- - -

For me not such a big deal. I live here for 20 years.

I took a motorbike taxi home, and will go back to the station later and hope the queue is gone.

I got the idea of googling for 'thai police targeting foreigners' and ran into articles like this, from the 4th December:

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/12/04/surge-reported-police-harassment-suggests-campaign-targeting-tourists-expats

I wonder if this is really a trend?

In any case I am disappointed.

Unlike the Thais, foreign visitors will in general not know the rules.

How about the renter of the motorbike telling them?

Or even demanding that a license is shown, like it works for car rental in most countries?

And let it be the renters issue if the motorbike is not equipped with correct papers and stickers?

Instead, they send visitors into an hour-long standing in a queue.

- - -

Let us see what the fine is. 200? 500? 1000? 1500? 2000?

Given the context of matters, I have grim expectations!

What a pathetic hypocritical state.Phuket and Thailand

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

What is so pathetic or hypocritical about arresting law breakers?

Valid question. The issue is always to what scale it appears.

If you help a tourist replacing a flat tire in the middle of the road, are you "working"?

If you play an instrument on amateur level, and you and your friends get permission to borrow the instruments from the Thai band, to jam a little during their break, are you "working"? (Exactly this happened on Dusit Laguna, Phuket, many years ago.)

If you just go with some friends and take pictures of them, are you "working"?

Then, if you offer your services, and people you don't know come to you and pay you cash for taking pictures, are you working?

Etc. Unfortunately, the Thai police have a history of ridiculous arrests.

But even if not: in this case, they must have better things to do than to arrest a chinese couple taking pictures??

Unless there is much more to the story - give me a break!

Tourist Police = Idiots who want to be someone.

Better do away with all of them and teach some of the brighter police ( Are there any? ) to speak other languages

> Tourist Police = Idiots who want to be someone.

I absolutely don't agree in general.

The few times I have been close to some of them I see people doing a very good and important job in at time difficult settings.

Especially those farangs who overstep written and unwritten rules as guest are very lucky to have these guys to work out a solution.

Yes, there was one exception, but that was the one confirming the rule.

There is no scientific proof that HIV causes AIDS . this is not based my personal belief. it is based on available scientific data.

please click on the following link so what i am saying becomes more clear.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/07/11/aids-part-one.aspx

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2011/12/19/hiv-myth-hiv-causes-aids/

Ah! The good old one! Since most of the whole bunch of denialists who was tested HIV+ and since has died from AIDS I thought that was gone out of fashion.

http://www.aidstruth.org/denialism/dead_denialists

Especially after Maggiore went, that <deleted>, after letting her own daughter die from AIDS before her.

Her website, aliveandwell.org (!), still telling people why they don't have to fear for a positive test, and even shouldn't have one.

She got 43, her daughter got only 3.

"Scientific proof"? Anyone can define his own. There is also no "scientfic" proof that you die if shot through the head.

HIV+ test, T-cell drop, opportunistic diseases, deterioration of the body and death.

Treatment, if done in time, and continued testing for its performance and you may live a normal life.

Some in a few years, average about 10, some later and very few seems to be able to figth it off for decades.

For those interested in statistics there is an overwhelming correlation between viral load within the first months of infection, and the speed of progression to AIDS if untreated.

It's incredibly trivial, predictable, boring and sad. Have a couple of friends who are gone, before the treatment came and one after as it was too late.

PS do not download anything that looks dodgy - it will probably just double your pain. Stick to MalwareBytes or well known Malware/AV vendors only.

PPS CCleaner doesn't fix malware, ans Adaware wouldn't be a very good anti-malware program IMO.

That is a damned important piece of advice!

Got the problem myself, and googling for it took me to a number of websites.

Some of them just suggested downloads, some others suggested a manual removal method first that appeared to deliberately make things so complicated that nobody will try it.

If you download solutions from companies you don't know, yes, you are in for it. Fake virus-removers are the oldest trick in the book.

Clearing all history seems so far to have fixed it for me.

I agree with those who say it may be a problem outside the PC.

I watched this on the Thai news, there are appears to be a lot missing from this report.

On the news this dude said the dead person has about 10 of these dogs, one of which had a go at him as he walked past.

He took a swipe at the dog which led to a dispute with the owner.

If anything I wouldnt portray the dog as some sort of hero, just another out of control soi dog allowed to roam free, ill disciplined.

Throw some good old face into the mix and you have a recipe for violence.

No, you are wrong.

One newspaper article is always sufficient for gettging a complete understanding of the situation, and on that basis deciding about what is right and wrong, god or bad etc...

The worst thing:

"Upper house lawmakers voted 94-2 to uphold Boonsong Kowawisarat's constitutional right to immunity during the parliamentary session."

Well, people have the government they deserve.

Completely absurd.

Taxi driving is a business, not a public service with state-paid 9-to-5 employees.

Both buyer and seller can refuse a deal.

Does anyone think about WHY a taxi driver would refuse?

It is usually because it is bad business for him with the offered trip. Especially long ones or those where traffic can be expected to be heavy.

Or he may have a wife and kid to return to, and don't want to go for one hour with the client and one hour back.

Or he may not like the person who asks, who could be rude, drunk or whatever.

Or be uncertain about the route.

Stop making it a better option for drivers to say "no".

If refusing is too frequent (and it is), there is something wrong with the system.

Review the meter fares for longer trips, and for waiting in heavy traffic.

That will remove 90% of the problem.

Don't force people by law to take a worse business option, just because it suits those who need the service.

http://www2.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21875

...

Yothin Theprian, the alleged shooter [of Thongnak Sawekjinda] , turned himself in to police on Aug. 1, apparently as he feared that he would be “silenced” in turn by those who commissioned the murder. He said he killed Thongnak for a 40,000 baht (US $1340) payment.

...

As we can now see, the fear was not for nothing.

Wonder how many would believe that we see anyone of the masterminds in jail, even for just a short time?

A few brave men work to counter corporate abuse and have laws followed.

How poorly they are helped by authorities and the government.

Long live the name of Thongnak Sawekjinda.

Posts that deny Hivaids exist or is a conspiracy have been removed. Please take the time to read the pinned topic Hiv, Aids And Conspiracy Theories. Any further postings of this nature will be removed.

IMHO, there is overwhelming evidence that HIV is the cause of the fatal immune disease syndrome we call AIDS.

However, I don't believe in censoring honest opinions, which are not off-topic, offensive and/or in conflict with laws and/or rules.

DO we have the same retarded laws in the US and the UK? That, if you are an MP you can get away with murder (literally)?

No wonder the guy took a hands-on approach to matters.

We do, MPs have parliamentary immunity, which must be revoked either by supreme court or the parliament itself.

The original idea was to avoid the police taking action against a politician for political reasons, like arresting a politician on false charges two weeks before an election.

Usually the parliament revoke the immunity instantly, from day to day, if a politician is suspected of a serious crime.

Google for "parliamentary immunity revoked"

No politician in the west would dream about voting against, it would be the end of his career within any party.

Here it might be an entirely different matter, as Thais do not seem to have a problem with notorious criminals, or their supporters, in their parliament.

"If the accident happened during evening hours, why was the "railway official" waving a red flag and not a red lamp? "

Probably a signal was broken, and that is the real problem. Do not think that national train system runs on flags in the dark. It doesn't.

"Why were cars 'parked' (stopped) on railway tracks when the warning lights were flashing? "

Because it is the way it works in the city. Cars stop on tracks, and it is very hard to avoid.

People also get stuck in any other intersection.

You go towards an intersection in heavy traffic. It is green for you. You can see that there are cars inside the intersection. so that everybody MAY not be able to get out of the intersection before it is green in other directions.

Do you stop for green, even if you are not absolutely certain?

Well, the norm here is, that you go in, and others, who have green waits until there is free passage.

Personally I think it is a better system than people stopping for green light in their direction, based on an evaluation that will be wrong much of the time.

- - -

Dozens of things can happen on a track. A bus could get a motorstop. Two cars could have had an accident. Or, as it happen 100 times in the city every day: cars are stuck in a queue.

The intersection guards are there to ensure safe passage. Something failed.

This accident is 100% the error of the train company. There should be back-up solutions.

It is as simple as having a backup lantern. Not a flag in the dark.

1.5 kg! Impressive.

> noticed a suspicious white substance in her hair.

Does not sound like the most clever attempt in the world.

You should always refuse to be a drug mule unless working with pros.

I have been told there is a world of difference between Patpong and any other red-light place in Bangkok - was it "Nana", "Soi 33", "Cowboy"? They say that the good times are still alive and well there, while Patpong has become truly the rock-bottom.

In my email it said "Bangkok's Patpong is losing its sex appeal" which is true, the article says "Bangkok is losing its sex appeal". Not the same statement, and

I wonder who rightfully corrected the headline.

Happy Birthday!

"This would cause the salinity to be dramatically lowered from the Gulf's normal level of 32 parts-per-thousand (ppt) to just 2 ppt."

How much more rain did we have this season, compared to last year? I have head of 40% or so.

But even if it was double, how can a "normal" salinity of 32 ppt drop to 2 ppt?

What was it last year in the same month?

Additionally, salinity is clearly varying dramatically in a bay, where a major river goes into.

Take a look at

http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/reports/salinity_variation/index.html

where the huge variations in salinity are plotted for different bays in USA.

Also, salinity will vary dramatically between locations. Pattaya will see only small changes compared to just outside Bangkok.

So, hard to see that salinity should be any unusual problem. No need to pollute the statement with such information.

- - -

The pollution is another matter. Here we could easily be talking about orders of magnitude in difference to "normal".

- - -

"Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department chief Wibul Sanguanpong urged people in flood-hit homes not to use chemicals during the flood and to securely cover containers with chemicals and put them away in case they leak into the water and cause harm or an allergic reaction by some people."

I.e.

"Keep household chemicals away from flood water".

Miss Hou was found lying face down on her bed with streaks of dried blood emanating from her nose and mouth, the receptionist added.

. . .

“At this stage, I suspect she may have committed suicide, but we need to question her relatives first in order to determine if she had any motive for doing so,” Lt Col Ekkasit said.

Can't recall hearing about any other suicide fitting the description, and have a bit of a hard time imagining how it should have been done. Well, maybe the autopsy will tell us more.

How about those "smarties knowing everything" here in the farang community coming up with a proper drainage and emergency plan, so far I have mostly read heaps of BS of blown up egos!

Agree.

Skuhumbhand: [...] only fortune-tellers can know for certain

No they can't.

Dumbass.

I think that was ironically meant.

Letting in military from other countries is just not an easy decision to make, and US forces are not popular everywhere, ask Japan.

If there was a problem in Texas or California, and the Mexican Armed Forces offered to help it would not just be welcomed with open arms.

I am not saying they should not do it, only that it is understandable if they hesitate.

It is not the effect, it is the risk taken with others lives that count.

One or two hundred make no difference.

The whole Thai system of total passivity is the real culprit. This is something for which the Thai people highly share the responsibility.

Did anybody see "regular safety inspections" as argument in the election debate?

Or, say, "enforcement of speed limits and more alcohol tests in the city"?

I have outside the Silom+Sukhumvit areas been stopped only two times, despite driving every day for more than 10 years.

But what did I see on the election posters? Free notebooks, and promises of money in various ways.

- - -

"Deputy Commissioner General Jongrak Juthanon of the Royal Thai Police claimed the force had refused to allow Santika to open in 2004.

'We found it did not confirm to standards,' he said.

However, the venue threw open its doors after launching a legal appeal that would spend four years in the court system."

http://news.sky.com/...rticle/15196605

So, a place gets a "no" and still opens? There's a good place to start. What does the law say? Do we need a change? Or do we need to spend money on eye-glasses to the police force?

Had that been done there would be approx 66 young people alive today.

"The Ministry of Justice investigation discovered the nightclub was officially registered as a private residence and therefore had never received a fire safety inspection"

http://en.wikipedia....ntika_Club_fire

How many Santikas are open around Thailand, built by powerful men with the right connections. Regardless of what laws may or may not be in place?

Dear Thai parents - instead of waiting for the next Santika or the next drunk-driving accident - wake up, and start take interest in your system, and clean out the corruption and inaction.

That will help.

Putting some corrupt businessman in jail (if that even will even happen) whenever something already went wrong will hardly.

I have driven motorbike in Bangkok every day for more than 10 years. I have been stopped more than 100 times, at least 95% of the time for things I actually did wrong.

Examples:

Not driving in the left side

Using a fly-over or bridge

No helmet

Forgotten license

Insurance papers missing (they were lost when parking)

Turning left for red light, even when there was not the blue arrow

Crossing red lights (typically in the middle of the night. No cars - but a policeman hiding)

Usually, you give them some ID-card and a 100 Baht under it.

Then you can always claim it was a mistake (and not an attempt to bribe a police office) and they can conveniently give you back the card only, the 100 Baht note mysteriously missing.

I don't have a lot of moral problems - though some, see below - with bribing in such matters.

The money goes to a low-paid street policeman, who actually does a good piece of work. And they have to pay up the system too.

At times (5% or so) they insist about the fine being paid on the station, where it then grows from 200 Baht and up.

When I recently asked fine-collecting policeman there whether there was any limit he said "maximum is 1000 Baht" - and reduced a 400 Baht fine (no helmet) to 200.

I wish they'd enforce stopping those who endanger other people with speeding, drunk driving or crossing red lights with no respect for others.

In such matters bribing is inexcusable.

And I admit that I by the small-scale bribing is paving the way for dark bribes too.

That is my moral problem - but it will not make me insist on going to the police station every time. I don't think the difference is there at all.

A statement that "Traffic policement is not taking bribes" is similar to "There is no prostitution in Thailand".

And that somebody are willing say that shows something very sad about the country.