gemguy

Well, there may be more to the story than we may ever know.

However, if the police "smell" money then they will take the time to follow up on a case and try to learn how much money is involved and work the case in a way that the people involved may volunteer to "pay a fine"

They may very well deport him and sometimes they do while making it look like they are doing such a fine outstanding job cleaning up the "crime" related matters flourishing in their realm of influence perpetrated by such sinister foreigners.

You would surmize the police have far more serious matters to attend to........and they do...but not if they can not smell any money.

That and foreigners are always easier marks than Thais.

What I have noticed for over 20 years of living here is 2 factors that would increase the rate of accidents. One is the way that the Thai drivers all practice the same thinking where they believe the other drivers will see what they are doing and give way or allow it to happen. Such as pulling out into traffic, they commonly just make the move ( especially if there is any room at all to make their move) while assuming and or relying on the other drivers to see what they are doing and accomodate them. It works most of the time but all too often it can result in an accident such as the bus accident explained here. They do that in part because they have no fear that they will get hit and the fact that 99 % of the time NO other Thai driver will accomodate them if they do not aggressively make their move. Second is the way that the Thais do not practise "defensive driving" and they will not change their course of action until the very last second believing they are "in the right" and the other driver is wrong and so the attitude itself causes a notable percent of the accidents. The "Me first attitude" and the lack of foresight is a big factor. You can see and feel it when you are in cross walk and no one will stop for you and the only way to get across the road in a cross walk is to step out in the cross walk and step in front of the traffic when there is a slight break in the traffic. I have noticed that near everytime that the on coming car, that deperately trys to squeese by the pedestrians and nearly hits someone but has to come to an abrupt stop to accomodate the pedestrians, is driven by a woman. If there is 1 foot of room they will try to steer around you while they are going through the cross walk. It is also a case of monkey see and monkey do and what ever the others do the others will commonly copy the style of driving. Those are just some of the factors I have noticed amongst all the other bad to terrible driving habits of the Thais. But you know what..in their simple minds they think they are the best drivers in the whole world and in thier minds why would they believe or think there is any need to actually think "too much" about what they are doing rather than "just drive" and get from point A to B. If an accident happens it is something or someone elses fault and bad Karma rather than bad driving on their part or lack of thinking about what they are about to do or already doing. On a side note: 4 times I have been in a taxi cab when the cab I was in was involved in a minor accident. Each time I just threw the driver some money ( more than the agreed fair, back in the day or more than the meter posted ) and got out and quickly walked away. Once, the driver tried to grab me as I was exiting and make me stay and be responsible for his involvement in his accident. If you did happen to stay around or your hurt enough and can not get away there is very good chance you will be the one paying and or held responsble for the accident because they need someone ( something ) to blame anyhow and their logic is that you caused the accident because you told the cab driver to go to where you told him too go or go the "way" where the accident happened so the logic says it would not have happened if you had not told the taxi driver to go the way where the accident DID happen. Farangs make great escape goats anyhow for the Thai's driving incompetance. I once saw a major motor cycle(s) / car(s) accident at the intersection of Sathorn Road and Surasak Road in Bangkok. The light was unusually long (controled by the police ) and it looked like about 100 motorcycles had weaved their way through the traffic ( another notable cause of accidents ) and accumulated at the front of the traffic and the head of the intersection waiting for the red light to turn green. When it turned green all the motor cycles raced ahead and I can only surmise that one or 2 of the motorcycles at the front of the pack collided with one another and went down and the rest of the pack behind them just kept on racing ahead, including cars and trucks impatient to get moving again. It was gruesome to say the least and I came to the intersection on foot maybe 3 to 5 minutes after the accident and some of the accident victims had managed to move clear of the pile up of bikes and bodies that were twisted up and pinned within all the bikes and human limbs that other people were now pulling apart. Meantime no police officers were actually trying to stop all the rest of the traffic from attempting to go through the intersection or finding any room at all to squeese past the carnage in front of them...adding more mayhem to the already existing mayhem. It took at least 30 minutes before 1 ambulance finally arrived and piled in 6 or 7 of the injured persons and other people where already dragged off to the side along with 4 or maybe 5 people who looked to be dead or unconscious while lots of people were sitting around or laying on the curb nursing some really nasty wounds on various parts of their bodies. I noticed that lots of people were watching ..but not many were helping other than the accident people themselves helping one another and the police just told everyone else what to do and used their police radioes and came back and forth and into and out of their police box at the corner. I could hear ambulance sirens coming from different directions but 15 minutes later they had not arrived as they were stuck in the traffic and of course no one giving way or access to the ambulances. That is another thing I have noticed...hardly anyone at all heeds the sirens of the ambulances and makes room or gives way to ambulances rather they drive faster and or ignore the ambulances. Anyhow there was a whole lot of blood all over the middle of the intersection and lots of bike parts and plenty of twisted metal on display along with a few cars that had just plowed ahead and crashed into the back sector of the motorcycle pack. I lived in the area and I was on my way home and had to witness that nasty aftermath.

Not meaning to get off the direct subject matter on hand ....but speaking of violence.

Basically many Thai guys found around the toursit bar areas would like to beat up some foriegners who act like "A holes" when they get drunk.

I have seen a few one on one fights and the Thai guy did not fair very well and other tourists had to break it up because they felt sorry for the poor Thai guy.

Some fights were started by the Thai guy(s) and others were started by the obnoxious forienger(s)

You can assume alcohol was a major factor.

Sometimes a fight just beaks out when 10 seconds before nothing was going on that warranted your attention.

On Patpong road, 20 years ago I witnessed 2 young guys take on 7 of the upstairs rip off joint bouncers / bar boys.

They came tumbling out of the bar entrance being kicked and assaulted and ended up on the street fighing with them and surprisingly they turned the fight around and started to beat on the Thai guys.

I remember none of the street vendors said anything or tried to stop the violence.

I was expecting bottles or any thing on hand to be used as weapons by the Thai guys but they simply backed off and skulked back to the entrance of the bar at the bottom of the stairs.

However, one of the young foreigner guys was adrenalin pumped and wanted some revenge and he was taunting them and calling them out on to the street wanting to have a go at them again.

His friend had better sense and dragged him away.

It can turn violent real fast sometimes!

Why are posters going on about Muslims?

They weren't behind the many lethal bomb attacks on New Year's Eve 2006/2007 in Bangkok.

Just pointing out the long ongoing Muslim unrest in Southern Thailand would be the most suspect source of bomb threats.

Everytime I do venture around Soi Nana and Kao San road area I find myself thinking those 2 areas would be the ideal place for a bombing.

That is if the bombers wanted to make an international statement moreso than a place where 98 percent of the damage would be perpetrated on Thai people more so than any foreigners.

At least the authorities are aware of the potential and they have thwarted the attempts of some sinister persons in the past but how can you expect them to cover all areas of the city and or the country.

The guy comes with an attitude as you can plainly see.

Combine that with some steroids ( probably ) and some alcohol and ( probably )some Yaa Ba and the fireworks begin.

Take note that the altercation started at a beer bar...meaning everyone drinking or getting drunk.

Maybe they should legalise Marijuana and heavily penalise people who drink. LOL

So.....who started the fight?

That is what the readers want to know ( but will never really know)

Of course all persons involved will say the other(s) started the problem and the other(s) started the fight.

Hmmmm ...alcohol and attitude.

I have always wondered why more people do not build thier house on raised post platforms rather than at ground level knowing that every year there is a very good chance of flooding and damage to their houses.

If they argue that it is too much more expensive to build the house raised above the ground by 6 to 8 to 10 feet then they are mistaken because the cost of flooding several times over a 40 to 50 year period has got to be more expensive than the initial costs to build the house above flood water marks.

You sometimes see the raised house designs while travelling around parts of Thailand ...but not nearly as much as is warranted by the extent of flooding that occurs every year.

Just thinking.

I thought the Thai police would be busy catching all the drug dealers and drug users now the Yingluck has declared war on them.

Who cares if some girls and a ladyboy are showing their bodies to guys who want to watch and pay.

If they smile a lot and say sorry, sorry, sorry and then pay some: "I am really, really, really so sorry" (money ) on the side, then they won't go to jail. Then they can get back to the business of making money and letting the right police official(s) share in the profits.

I mean, is that not how business is done here in Thailand.

The police love it when they do their job and catch the law breakers and then on the side make a deal to let the business carry on while they get a portion of the lucrative profits.

Why would they actually want to shut it down when shutting it down eliminates the opportunty to make some money from something they probably really do not care about and probably do not want to enforce anyhow, being such a minor offence.

I would think 20 % of the profits should settle the matter.

Does not matter if it is Thailand or near any other country.

The goal of 80 % is impossible.

Her Government policy should include the means to legally process all the arrested drug dealers and drug consumers and the means to imprison all the newly incarcerated citizens.

I am envisioning how many people in the next year will be thrown into jail and eventually imprisoned and the unbearable over crowding in the prisons that will surely occur.

Most of the drug users will be your average citizen who has broken the law. They should be prosecuted and will be prosecuted and more than likely end up in prison.

Most people would agree if you do the crime you have to do the time but the judicial system here in Thailand is somewhat of a joke, as we all know, and the prison system here in Thailand is one of the worst in the world.

If she really wants to be well loved and a really smart politician she should use the drug problems to her advantage and talk about drug related reforms and develope reforms for the prison system and programs to wean the drug users off the drugs while dealing with the drug dealers in creative legal ways that seriously effect their drug trade operations.

How excatly I can not suggest but the wide spread use of police thugs and the military thugs to be used to start arresting anyone and everyone who is even suspected of drug dealing or drug consuming is going to cause near as many problems as it is trying to eliminate.

It could include foreigners suspected of some kinds of complicity and used as policy for harrasing foreigners.

It could get out of control and borderline on stupidity

Everyone witnessed the last drug crack down and how it has not done much to stop the drug dealing and or consumption.

Rather than simply arrest them all and then prosecute them all she should have a well thought out plan as to how the whole judicial system and the prison system is going to handle all the new drug related cases and all the new prison inmates.

We all know that many high ranking officials and military personal and politicians are commonly connected and or profit from the drug trade that increases year by year here in Thailand.

Those are the untouchables.

We all know they will not be the ones suffering any penalties and or going to prison except in the cases where they are used a convenient scape goats.

She will be exposing her own political allies and police officers and military officers if she seriously goes after the major perpetrators of the drug trade here in Thailand.

She could even be the first prime minister to be assasinated if she pursues the matter too vigorously.

We also know the police and politicians and military will use this as a means to eliminate the opposition and reposition themselves when the heat is off them, sooner or later.

There is no way she can reach the 80% goal and she should not have announced that figure and in the manner that she did.

She should have told the public: "We are going to slowly eliminated as much of the drug trade and drug consumption as humanly possible considering the enormous amount of obstacles that we have to overcome"

Actually she should not announce anything as all she has done is forewarn the drug dealers to be more clever and intelligent in the ways they go about doing their drug business and all their other sinister and nefarious activities.

Yes, I was fortunate there was no back up for the Thai guy.

There was hardly anyone around on the street that particular moment and when I looked around I noticed the guard at the bank building had been watching the whole incident and he did not say anything.

I did not feel good about what had happened and I was critical of myself for losing my self control and I did not think I was some sort of tough guy.

I just over powered him because he did not expect my reaction....and neither did I......but it was the gesture that he was going to Thai Box my face that made me so angry, as if I am supposed just cave into his threat to bully me into paying him

I know Thai people are not like that in general but that particular guy may have thought he was a tough guy Thai while stubbornly demanding what he wanted.

I really do not understand what was going on in his mind.

Anyhow, he probably tells everyone how the foriegner cheated him and he beat up the foriegner.

Many many years ago, while living in Bangkok for 12 years I got in a dispute over the fare with motorcylce guy that had stopped where I was standing and asked where I was going.

I told him where I was going and I stated the price in Thai language and he agreed.

When we got there he doubled the price on me and I refused to pay.

I stood there and offered him the fare that I had stated and the fare that he had agreed upon.

He would not take the money that we had agreed upon and then got off his bike and confronted me demanding double the fare.

I tried to pay him the agreed fare and he would not take it while demanding the double fare price.

I said take it or leave it and he refused to take it.

I tried to walk away from him and his nonsense but he "Blocked" me with his arm.

I told him again I was not going to pay him and tried to put the money in his hand but he would not take it and kept demanding the double fare.

I told him once again I would not pay the doble fare and asked him if he wanted the agreed fare or not.

He kept demanding the double fare and then told me that was the fare I had previously agreed upon with him.

I corrected him and told him I had offered a price and he had agreed.

In Thai langauge I repeated myself and told him I would not pay the double fare price.

I then told him again I would pay him the agreed fare, take it or leave it, as I had to go.

He would not take the money.

I then tried to move around him again and he raised his elbow in my face and put his other hand on my chest and forcefully blocked me while making the Thai Boxing "elbow to the face gesture " clearly demonstrating that he was going to THAI BOX my face if I did not pay him.

Well Folks...I just lost it right then and there.

I proceeded to beat the crap out of the guy right then and there on the side walk on Silom Road in broad daylight in front of a bank building in 1998

He totally did not expect that to happen and I was surprised how easy it was for me to grab this guy and manhandle him and throw him around and beat him to the ground and left him stunned, lying on the ground.

I do not care what any other person has to say about that incident and what I should have done or not should have done in their opinion.

Criticise all you want...I dont care.

But on that particular day all the 12 years of Thai bullshit frustrations and the many times I had been cheated here and there by Thai people just boiled over and I lost it with that motorcylce guy when he put his hand on me and threatened to "Thai Box " my face.

After I had beat him I then put the money that he had demanded on the seat of his motorcylcle while screaming at him and saying: "Are you satisfied now" " Are you happy now you silly XXXXXX."

I paid him the money for the satisfaction of beating him up and for being the A Hole that we was and acting the way that he did thinking he could try to extort the money from me while threatening to box my face as if he was some sort of professional Thai Boxer.

I had hurt the guy real good and he was bleeding from the mouth and his lip was all swollen and he was totally dazed.

I just walked away and went into the building I was going to anyhow thinking I should not have done that and I had over reacted and should have just paid him.

I was feeling sorry for him.

But then again I thought: "Why should I let anyone cheat me like that while he is threatening to assault me.???

I had never had anything quite like that happen to me in 12 years of living in Bangkok and never since but I still wonder why the Thai man thought he could do what he tried to do and not simply except the money we had agreed upon.

Even if he had mistakenly agreed or did not understand what I had said in Thai langauge he could have accepted the money and moved on.

But no..he thought he could get more money out of me because I was a farang.

There are plenty of Thai people out there that can ruin your day if you happen to connect with them some how and in some way.

They come with an attitude and they can be stupidly stubborn and small minded.

That guy in particular, on that day was mistaken when he thought he could get some easy money from a farang.

More than likely, given some time, we will see the yellow shirts attempt to manipulate the government and pull off several polictical shenanigans that put themselves back in power.

That should come as no surprise to anyone.

If you do not see the yellow shirts forcefully gain the upper hand again you will for sure see them trying and keep on trying and lots of dirty politics for sure.

Yingluck is going to be spending a whole lot of time just trying to stay in power while the yellow shirts continually dog her and block her nearly every which way they can and discredit her every chance they get.

The people have voted more so against the elites and their status quo policies, rather than voting for Taksin, per say, or voting for Yingluck because they actually think she can run the government correctly or better.

I would surmize the people are saying: "We want to TRY to move ahead and give more people the chance to share some of the wealth and we want the yellow shirts out "

A noble gesture but realy not in touch with how the inside mechanics of Thai politics really work.

When I hear her talk about reconciliation I read between the lines and what I hear her saying is: "We will still share the money and the spoils with you"

As long as the elites are allowed to make lots and lots of money under Yinglucks rule then she may be able to keep the opposition under control.

As long as she shows great respect to the Monarchy and not seen as a threat then she will have a better chance.

Same with the military and armed forces. She will have to work hard at charming them to death and make sure they all keep their honoured and highly respect positions while also allowing them to share in the money...lots of money.... or they get angry and resentfull.

How it all works out is going to be seen and felt by everyone living in Thailand including the foriegners.

More than likely some aspects will get better but some aspects will change significantly and then you will see and experience how it all evolves the "Thai Way"

I am trying to be optomistic and I am hoping the business climate will continue and foriegners that choose to live here are not targeted in any sinister way

and there are no new restrictions and additional silly rules concerning foriegners living here and doing business.

It could work out better but I wont be surprised if her administration goes overboard in their "zeal" to contain the foreigner "problems"....including the naughty night life that attracts so many foriegn men.

If the new government promotes tourism in a big way, bigger than now, I dont see how they will be able to contain the naughty night life scene because of the money involved.

It has a way of evolving on its own and if there is money to be made and paid then it will find the "THAI WAY to survive and probably flourish all the more.

Lets watch what happens

Well...we regular readers and residents of Thailand all know that people should not rent the jet ski boats in the first place...but the majority of tourists do not know anything about the jet ski Mafia and the police goons who will gladly assist anyone who is a victim of the jet ski scam.

Yes hindsight says the people should have done this or that and handled it differently at the time...but when your surrounded and intimidated by all the beach goons and a police officer or police officers show up and everyone is saying: " you have to pay " ..."big problem" .....and start talking about JAIL if you dont pay..... then most people would rather pay than go to jail.

I would just like to see or hear about someone who stood up to them and said:

"OK..lets go to jail..lets get this over with ..I am not going to pay...you are not not getting a single Baht out of me." "You have insurance...deal with the insurance company.

And..." I am am going to sue you for endangering my life"

It could happen...but there would be lots of stress and grief and not a pleasant way to spend your holiday time...fighting with the local goons who quickly turn nasty and start to gang up on you all the more

There would be nothing fair about any of it.

However...I imagine a scene where someone acting as a spokesman for the victims campaigns on their behalf and somehow manages to get hundreds of ANGRY foriengners to march to the Mayors office and or the Police station... in force .....and demand that the Mayor of Phuket respond to the injustices being perpetrated against foriegn tourists.

What a lovely scene that would be.

What to do ..what to do