Shocked, Appalled

[Phatcharanan]

Thank you sharecropper.

I feel safer already.

[pgt99]

You are either a brave man or a very silly one.

[sharecropper]

You are either a brave man or a very silly one.

Thanks. I'll definitely go for your first choice!

[ehs818]

Safety laws in Thailand are not about your safety. They are about generating income. For all fines, the cop get 50%, the province gets 47%, and the country gets 3%. Remember this. ALSO, I can not count how many times I've seen police bringing their own kids home from school with neither of them wearing helmets. One other note. If you ever witness an accident are not not involved in it. DO NOT GET INVOVED. AND DO NOT MOVE ANY VEHICLES. Thai law states that the vehicles must stay where they are until they determine who is at fault. Get involved (move anything) and YOU may be held at fault and be forced to pay for something.

[Humphrey Bear]

At the end of the day, even if you convinced every police officer in Pattaya to wear helmets, nothing will have changed - you'll still need yours.

What bothers me more are helmetless children riding bikes to school. Even more still, 2 adults wearing helmets with 1, 2 or 3 helmetless child passengers. Worst of all...a farang male with girlfriend/wife wearing helmets and carrying a helmetless child or baby.

I couldn't agree more, but who is to blame? The adults wearing the helmets cos they'll get fined if they don't ?

or the police for allowing them to take helmetless kids as passengers?

What i can't understand is why the police don't stop and fine them for the helmetless kids? It is more tea money for them!

As the majority of 'safety helmets' sold in Thailand are only useful for building sandcastles on the beach (and allowing you to comply with the law) then there is not much use anyone wearing them.

And for kids, with different sized heads, softer skulls, different ways of acting in accidents/collisions, I have yet to see anything on sale that would be of benefit to under-eights. Above that age, maybe.

[Humphrey Bear]

As philHarries or anyone else who has lived/visited Vietnam will know, the use of helmets - however valueless they may be as far as protection is concerned - is almost universal.

Police all wear them, 99% of other motorcyclists wear them - because they will lose their m'bike if they don't.

But still small kids don't often wear them - because there are none made for kids. Are there any in the West? I cannot recall any - and I started off the British Standards Testing Laboratory in Hemel Hempstead schemes for crash hats and seat belts. (Showing my age - that was around 1960)

[JimsKnight]

Go get 'em sharecropper

[needforspeed]

Waiting for your next adventure sharecropper.

Herewith some idea's.

-Go to Dusit Zoo, climb into the tiger cage just before feeding time and run around in a Fred Flinstone outfit.

-Blindfold yourself and cross Sukhumvit road 3 times between 1 and 2 AM.

-Go to the crocodile farm, put 2 spoons off Papaya POK POK in your mouth, stick your head in the crocodiles mouth, and spit it out.

If planning any other adventure send me a mail, i love to film it.

Good job

[sharecropper]

Waiting for your next adventure sharecropper.

Herewith some idea's.

-Go to Dusit Zoo, climb into the tiger cage just before feeding time and run around in a Fred Flinstone outfit.

-Blindfold yourself and cross Sukhumvit road 3 times between 1 and 2 AM.

-Go to the crocodile farm, put 2 spoons off Papaya POK POK in your mouth, stick your head in the crocodiles mouth, and spit it out.

If planning any other adventure send me a mail, i love to film it.

Good job

Thanks. You will see the latest photo escapade under the post heading below: Goodwill On The Mean Streets Of Pattaya

Gven the serious subject matter (earthquake generosity) mixed with the obvious pisstake of the municipal officers I photographed collecting for it, I had to be a bit more subtle in my narrative and heading!