neenthewiser

Yes,

From the Phuket Gazette Issues and Answers:.........

Why is there no songtaew bus running between Karon and Patong?

Monday, May 10, 2004 Alex Thow.

“In 1994, we established a public transport route linking Patong and Karon. After just three days, however, the driver was pulled from his vehicle and badly beaten by competitors.

We would still like to have an investor operate a songtaew along that route, but since 1994 nobody has contacted us about it.

They are probably worried about having similar problems and losing their investment capital. Public transport in Phuket faces many problems of this nature. ”

Monday, May 10, 2004 Teerayuth Prasertphol, Deputy Director, Phuket Provincial Transportation Office."

Hey, why don't we all join together and start up a bus service?

One driver, seventeen riding shotgun sounds about right!

Your best protection if you really like that girl is to get a few kiddies, as after that her first priority is kids, number 2 parents, number 3 herself and you last. At the present familly will be number one and its essential to boot them out of that position unless you like getting cleaned out by permanently lazy and drunken Thai males...</font>

As succinct an encapsulation of Thai reality as you are likely to find anywhere. Well done Tracer.

2p per minute from UK to a Thai landline.

15p per minute from UK to a Thai mobile.

Can anyone beat that?

find them at www.call18866.co.uk

I tried it and it works. Just waiting for the bill now!

A Thai lady drowned off Karon Beach yesterday. That's the 3rd person to drown off Karon Beach in 3 weeks and there have been a number of other close calls. The seas are extremely dangerous and deceptive; you can get caught in a current as little as 20 yards from the shore. It's futile to swim against one of these currents. If you get caught in a current pulling you from the shore you've got to have the presence of mind to swim parallel to the shore till you're free of the current. Please be very careful if you're going in the sea and please warn anyone you know who's going to the beach.

I have never been fined for not having a licence. As soon as I became aware of the legal requirement I started carrying it. No problem. But that doesn't prevent me from sympathising with tourists who come here fully intending to obey the law: they are licenced, the wear a helmet, the obey the speed limits, they don't drink and drive but get fined for a minor offence they were not made aware of.

I appreciate that when cutethaigirl goes on holiday and wishes to rent a moped for a day she will find her way to the Traffic Office, obtain a copy of the laws, get them translated into her own language and study them thoroughly. Good for her. But most of us live in the real world. If it's so important that a driving licence is carried then it should be signposted (as wearing of helmets, driving on the left and speed limits are). It should also be in those free tourist magazines in hotels and it would be nice if those renting out the bikes advised the tourists too.

Thailand is a poor country and tourism one of its biggest industries. Many factors affecting tourism are out of their control (terrorism, SARS, bird flu), but many are in their control: bar closing times for one, heavy handed enforcement of trivial traffic offences another. Where is the "I'll let you off this time, but be aware it is the law to carry a licence while driving"? I could see that getting fined in a blatant revenue raising exercise could leave a bitter taste in the mouth and may just be the final straw, with the other factors above, to persuade some to try somewhere else for a holiday. It's possible.

I think that jumping up and down barking "these are the rules and they must be obeyed" is unsympathetic, unhelpful and arrogant.

To try and move this along, it is also the law in Phuket that a bike passenger must wear a helmet. Does anyone know why this law is not enforced?

either pay up or get your license in order, tourists, expats, knowitall's alike.

Yes, yes. Achtung achtung! Zese are ze orders and orders must be obeyed! Fascists unite! Just the other day I saw a Thai policeman riding his motorbike without a helmet. What does that say to tourists? I obey ze rules; I keep my international driving licence (which is valid for a year, by the way) under my bike seat. It is just disappointing to see policemen here fining tourists on such an insignificant breach of the law. I would be equally disappointed if they did this in America or Spain or Greece...but they don't! They have speed cameras in stupid places in the UK which are an equally legal yet annoying pursuit of revenue. No doubt there are some in the UK that think that zis is ze law and ze law must be obeyed at all times but luckily humanity and common sense also applies.

Get a licence

make sure your road tax is up to date

make sure your insurance is up to date

These are the common rules, what do you expect if you don't abide by them?

I don't understand what there is to complain about, if you are legal then you don't get nicked..

Basher.

All very nice and easy for you to say. I assume you live here. For people who come on holiday here it's not so easy. When they rent a bike does anyone tell them that they should carry a licence? Do you honestly expect people having a 2 week vacation to totally familiarize themselves with all the laws of the country they're going to? Would you if you were spending 2 weeks in Spain? Or Greece? The simple fact is this law hasn't been applied for years but is now being exploited as a revenue raising exercise with no safety benefit and it is disappointing that someone like you should support it.

Well, if I were a Muslim terrorist in the South with a carbootfull of Ammonium Nitrate and detonators (which they have, stolen from a quarrying company) then for maximum Bali-like impact I would set it off in Bangla Road, preferably in the Tiger when an American Navy boat is in.

One good thing about Phuket is that there is only one (surface) way in. And Phuket's finest have a checkpoint there !

Weather should be okay but don't blame me if it rains all the time.

I'm just back from Karon Beach where a Thai man drowned today. No lifeboats, no helicopters, only 2 American surfers risking their lives to find the guy. One came back on shore after an hour of searching and pleaded "Why don't you do something?"

Yeah son, this is Thailand. The Police were there, back from checking driving licences and helmets; capable of doing as much as me. The Jet-Skis, which are going to be banned soon, were nowhere to be seen. No boats, no nothing. He died. Body should wash up in a couple of days.

Karon Beach Resort has swimming pools and it's right on the beach.

I keep my driving licence under the bike seat so it's always there.

This revenue raising exercise is yet another thing that will put tourists off ever coming back here.

dr_Pat_Pong says: "There is a way. COMPLY and have a proper visa." (Achtung)!

Sycophant dereklev opines: "AND SO SAY ALL OF US!!

Why are so many people so amazed that the Thais would like you to follow their rules?"

The original post stated:

"On Friday, meanwhile, the moderator on the thaiimmigration.com website (which is registered to Pol Col Sorrapol Payoongveeranoi, Superintendent of Nong Khai Immigration), posted a backgrounder on the current confusion:

He wrote, “Nong Khai Immigration [has] got two different sets of instructions from Headquarters in Bangkok on how the new financial rules are to be executed/interpreted .

“They got one from Division 3 stating that the new rules goes for everybody [with multiple tourist/transit on-arrival visas].

“They also got one from Division 1, in the form of a letter addressed to a member of this forum, saying that the new financial rule applies only to new applicants, [ie] people who [apply] for extension [for the] first time after 9th July 2004, which means that there is a ‘Grandfathering rule’ for former applicants.

“Superintendent Pol Col Sorrapol has done a [great deal of] work trying to find out which instruction is to be followed, but so far without any luck. All the people at HQ in Bangkok say, ‘We don’t know.’.

“That has given us a kind of delicate situation ... So to keep it simple, let’s just say they are both right.”

--Phuket Gazette 2004-05-14"

Comply???

Follow the rules????

The Thais don't know their own ---snip--- rules. How do you ---snip--- expect farangs to know them?

I'm in Kata but as long as it involves drinking I'll go pretty much anywhere.

Did you see this in the Gazette Issues and Answers?

Why no Karon-Patong bus?

Why is there no songtaew bus running between Karon and Patong?

Monday, May 10, 2004 Alex Thow.

“In 1994, we established a public transport route linking Patong and Karon. After just three days, however, the driver was pulled from his vehicle and badly beaten by competitors.

We would still like to have an investor operate a songtaew along that route, but since 1994 nobody has contacted us about it.

They are probably worried about having similar problems and losing their investment capital. Public transport in Phuket faces many problems of this nature. ”

Monday, May 10, 2004 Teerayuth Prasertphol, Deputy Director, Phuket Provincial Transportation Office.

Is Club Andaman at the Burma side? How do you get from Ranong to the Burma side?

Club Andaman is technically in Burma but is actually on an island (owned by a Thai General, apparently). The casino has a boat which ferries you across. There's something like an extra 500 baht to pay if your visa has less than 5 days left on it, don't know why.

Re Mike's Bikes, apparently they've started charging 200 baht for the boat meaning your total is now 999 + 200 + 300 (300 baht for the 5 US dollars for the nice Burmese immigration).

Nice idea but it just aint gonna happen; not unless Phuket gets a governor with the balls to stand up to the tuk tuk mafia.

Also I suspect most of the accidents happen in and around Phuket Town. The main reason for accidents is obviously the appalling driving but also I think the roads themselves are dangerous. Look at the airport road near Phuket Town. You get vehicles trying to turn right across 2 lanes of fast moving traffic outside Tesco, Big C and Promphan. These are accidents waiting to happen. Big C even employs some poor bloke in a hat to wade into the traffic to try and help vehicles turn right. Now if the powers that think they are would just put roundabouts at these locations they would slow approching traffic and drivers would have to negotiate just one direction of traffic at a time. I believe such traffic calming methods would reduce accidents, assuming people could ever learn the correct way to use roundabouts.

In front of her the staff then told me ' you must pay 1000 baht to bring another lady back to your room'.

The Novatel never gets my business again 

That's truly shocking.

So what did you do? Did you pay the thousand or did you find another place?

There always seems to be a steady supply of people stepping off the plane with pockets full of cash thinking all they have to do is buy a bar and that'll keep them here. Soon enough the disillusion sets in, the drinking becomes a problem, the fights with the gf escalate and the losses mount. Then they have to look for someone newer and dumber to offload the bar to.

What I'd like to know is what's the record? What's the shortest time between someone buying a bar and the For Sale sign going up?

I live in Kata and there is no Songtheaw to Patong.

And the Taximeters wont pick you up if you want dropped off in Patong.

Now, if you live in Patong, this is irrelevant to you. But I just want to let it be known that the main problem with Phuket is the tuk tuk mafia.

From Kata they charge 250 baht to Patong.

It wouldn't be a problem but the plod have started prosecuting drunk driving.

Welcome to paradise!

Apart from that it's alright.

I take it you will not be going again

Indeed I haven't been back.

And just to add, Su's house was a big posh place with an electric gate! When I wanted to leave I had to ask for permission.!

Aahh the simple pure Thia people!

From the Phuket Gazette:

"Over the nine days, a blitz on road safety saw police officers stop 229,631 vehicles at 50 checkpoints on the island.

Some 3,837 people were charged with breaking traffic regulations. Of these, 2,181 were charged with driving without a license, 1,176 with not wearing helmets, 258 with not wearing seatbelts, 155 with drunk driving, 65 with driving illegally modified vehicles, and two people with speeding."

So if we consider speeding, drunk driving and illegally modified vehicles as realistically dangerous to other road users, then that's 222 out of 229,631 stopped.

That's 0.009% of the drivers the Phuket police stopped were actually dangerous.

Well I feel much safer now!

In Kata I used to enjoy watching the world go by in Sue's bar

Well... I don't like Su's bar because, on one of those days when bars have to close, Su told all her customers she would have a party at her house. We went along and were told to help ourself to beers from the fridge. I noticed one of the staff sitting next to the fridge scribbling notes. Sure enough, when we left, we were each presented with check-bins for what we'd drank. Note, we weren't charged cost price (30B per beer, which might have been acceptable), we were charged full bar price. What a bunch of c***s. Talk about Phuket Thais being moneygrabbing, spoilt by commercialism.

What is a prostitute?

Definition please,...?

ok

Prostitute n.

1. One who solicits and accepts payment for sex acts.

2. One who sells one's abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose.

Time you got a dictionary ;-)

There you'll find interesting words suitable for Erco like:

Snob n.

1. One who tends to patronize, rebuff, or ignore people regarded as social inferiors and imitate, admire, or seek association with people regarded as social superiors.

2. One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of taste or intellect.

I know one who  has bought a 5 millon baht house.

Well, if he made that money from a bar he gets my respect. There must be a hundred bar owners making a loss or scraping by for each one making a profit (unscientific figure pulled drunkenly from thin air).

Some friends of mine reckon Captain Kirk's in Soi Easy has the best girls but I find them too pushy for lady drinks.

Friends Bar, Soi Dongtan I like.

I don't think there are any good bars in Kata/Karon. Other than quiet places for expats to winge over a Heineken the place is like a morgue. Anyone know a good place please post.

I used to drink in a place called Toshe Bar in Soi Sunset. It was a shit bar but I'd generally be left alone and would drink a bottle of Scotch, eat a pizza, watch the football and all the comings and goings from the Expat Hotel. Ah the simple pleasures of life. But that bar's closed now so I don't know.