[Thai govt wants to raise fares of 'low-cost' airlines]

...."Bus operators and consumers should share the blame for the high number of accidents, said Sujinda Cherdchai, owner of Cherdchai Tour that operates a bus service and produces made-to-order buses. Sujinda said that her company is currently manufacturing high numbers of double-decker buses to meet the rising market demand.

“Consumers only look for low rental rates, comfort, entertainment and luxury, but forget all about safety,” said Sujinda, who is also the president of the Thai Bus Operators Association...."

<deleted>... Sujinda...!!!...are you saying that it is me....the tourist/Thai local complete with a suitcase.....that needs to take some of the blame for the high number of accidents....you want me to do a safety check on your bus...before I climb aboard

This woman is in dreamland....unbelievable statement

[Thai govt wants to raise fares of 'low-cost' airlines]

I think a number of posters on this thread are mistaking these busesmagic bus.jpgmagic bus1.jpg

for these busestranbus1.jpgtranbus.jpg

The psychedelic buses are not in the same league as the blue and white buses owned by the Cherdchai family business.

I think statistically one's chances of a safe trip are greater in the Transport Co's buses than the fairy tale buses that are usually driven by wannabee Lewis Hamiltons. However both types have had their share of serious accidents with fatalities.

Ms Cherdchai is a stout pillar of the Isaan community. http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/bus-fares-provinces-cut

It is not the business of this government or any other to tell a privately owned airline what fares they can charge. That is called free market competition. If Ms Cherdchai cannot appreciate this then she must deal with it without crying to the government.

Yes you are quite correct...there is a "difference" between the two types of buses....but irrespective of Suchinda being a good person and a highly respected person within the Isaan community....her buses do not comply with "height vs axle width"...an international required standard...(something which the previous Govt was going to enforce ..even going as far as saying they would inspect each and every inter-provincial bus)

With respect to her and your post......both Thai and foreigners get to read the bad press on bus accidents in Thailand.....and make their choices based on cost and safety concerns....in Suchindas case...perhaps her companies are being tarred with the same brush as the "pyschedelic" lot.

Perhaps she would have been better complaining to the Minister about the "cowboy pyschedelic" bus operators...but going after the airlines is over the top...and for the Minister to support that is truly unbelievable...what the hell is a military junta "the Govt" doing asking the airlines to not offer cheap flights.

Perhaps we will now see the owners of Tesco...asking the Minister of Food...to ask Makro not to offer cheaper food products...the mind boggles

[Thai school children are prone to suffer chronic back pain]

...along the front of the the classroom...underneath the large/wide whiteboard....my school has provided a shelf together with sturdy plastic folders.

The students paid 30b each for the folders. At the end of each school day the children sort through the textbooks they need to take home (homework) and leave the rest in the folders...takes about 5 minutes for 30 students to complete...they have it down to a fine art..

Result....only a few books go home at night.....4 to 6 kg.

Prior to the shelf/folder system....the students in P1 - P6 were carrying 25kg of books home..and the M students 25 to 35kg of books.

Simple but effective solution.....depends on the concern for the welfare of the students that the schools management shows......most schools could not care less...!!!

[How Much Do You Trust Your Partner?]

...when I left for Thailand (from New Zealand) 7 years ago my elderly (ex Vietnam vet father) said too me..." never trust anyone you can blindfold with a piece of string"...

I have proven him wrong...I am happy with my Burmese gf here in Thailand...we trust each other...she has no need to doubt me...I am straight up with her...and she is the same with me....yes I agree things can change oh so quickly....but we have a good open trusting/caring relationship with each other...and we both enjoy it

[Thai govt wants to raise fares of 'low-cost' airlines]

...So the Minister of Transport engages his mouth before his brain and tells the airlines to raise their prices ...."because it is "hampering" the bus companies business"

Perhaps the Minister of Transport should have asked Suchinda Chardchai to consider the following....

Passengers (both foreign and Thai) are sick and tired of the following experiences on "her" buses....

1. Bus drivers texting whilst driving

2. Drivers travelling at excessive speeds

3. Unsafe buses (not upto the international standard axle width versus the height of the bus)

4. Drivers having the wife/gf along for the ride often with a young child.

5. Music playing through the sound system at ear splitting levels

6. The strong smell of urine from both the on-board bus toilet...together..with the young child's changed nappy

7. Absolute failure to keep to the scheduled departure/arrival times (within reason..ie traffic holdups/mechanical breakdowns)

8. Pilfering and stealing from passengers stowed luggage

9. On-board hostesses...abrupt.....bad mannered and bad tempered (not all...but the majority of them)

...and...as reported in the press just today...there has been a massive drop off in the number of tourists visiting Thailand

and why would anyone want to sit on one of "her" buses for (say) 10 hours...when (say) a 1 hour flight achieves the same end result....irrespective of cost...(equal to the bus fair or more..)

[Census? Thai lady ringing on door bells asking questions]

The beige uniform appears to be the general one worn by various govt departments.

What would raise my concerns is why is she wearing this uniform and asking questions when all my family members who usually wear that uniform on Mondays (Moph, Teachers and Tessaban staff) are all enjoying a 5 day Govt holiday.

Exactly...!!!!

[Girls joyriding in Malaysia Air cockpit...]

2 Aussie brainless bimbos + 2 officers in the cockpit = All hoping for some "afterflight" activity

[PM to launch 'Discover Thainess' campaign]

Oooohhhhhh noooo ..............not another bloody campaign targeted at tourists

Thailand Hub of 3-a-day tourist Campaigns

[10 Million Baht Car Rental Scam reported to Sattahip Police]

.......approached by a woman you have never ever met before........hand over your car to be rented out to foreign tourists (on some of the most dangerous roads in the world)...in exchange for a "Thai promise" of 25,000b a month.......

Oh come on you car owning idiots....greed made you do it right?........did you give a seconds thought to insurance ramifications if your car was involved in an accident whilst being driven by a "foreigner".....duh...!!!

Serves you all right....now you go complaining and crying to the police.........tough titty you idiots

[Thai officials' reaction to terrorism act in Australia]

.........(Quote).....According to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, such an incident would not occur in Thailand given the country's tight security measures and close relations and cooperation with neighboring countries in terms of terrorism prevention efforts. Besides, Thailand is not involved in the ISIS conflict in any way; however, he declined to make further comment, saying doing so may eventually spark a dispute.(unquote)......

Dear General.....Thailand does NOT have to be involved in"such an incident" or be involved in the ISIS conflict...to become a target for "terrorist" activity.

Let me paint a scenario for you.

Terrorists will stop at nothing to create murder and mayhem...any country...anywhere...anytime...and will target anybody....women..men..children

and they know they will get worldwide press coverage when they act.

Let's just take a likely scenario a step further.....5 people with "terrorist intent"...fly into Thailand on seperate flights on seperate days.

All of them belong to some "terrorist group"...quite possibly they arrive in Thailand having travelled from different countries.

They meet up...and plan some dreadful murderous act in Thailand. (God and Buddha forbid)

Now please tell me how your immigration/Customs/Police staff at the main Thailand airports are going to intercept 5 people on five seperate flights arriving on seperate days from 5 different countries??

With respect to you General...I think this would be impossible.

[Looking to buy a watch: King Power vs. Downtown malls]

Don't go anywhere near King Power....scammers...and if you are in their shop they will give you a "free gift".....then when you exit the shop...a security guard will ask too look in your bag...you show him...he spots the "free gift"...then accuses you of stealing it....you take him back to the shop to the salesperson who gave you the "free gift"...and they flatly deny it was "free"...security then bail you up and demand a "payment" for you to continue on your journey

Welcome to Thailand....LOS Land of scams....avoid King Power...don't go anywhere near them....don't even walk into their shop

[Phuket mayor slams 'frightening' police raid on brother's home]

20 cops for one bounced cheque....<deleted>

[Thai rice checking reveals only 10% of total 17 million tons meet quality specs]

Give the inferior quality stuff to Yingluck...then she can distribute it to the poor and needy as she tours the country in her new found role as a "social worker"

[Some do's and don'ts for cellphone users]

Common sight when in public buses and train some people just ignore others by blocking access of door by just playing with phone, that is not Thai culture where people which is caring with handphone they contain themselves in cyber world which ignore other existance.

Grown accustomed to people in the west being absorbed with their cell phones while driving, inline or ordering but really does seem here to be strange places where some people choose to stop and make calls such as the entrance to stairs, middle of sidewalk or anywhere else that impedes others from moving rather than stepping to the side ... interesting it is not just locals as I see farangs doing the same thing here too.

Probably more to do with an age thing of younger folks coming to expect and rely (emotionally) on instant communications. Not like anything has become more urgent, just people are less patient and believe just because you can communicate now doesn't mean you need or should.

I love it when they block doorways of walk slowly on the sidewalk, gives me a good chance to practice kicking ankles or nailing them with the baby stroller, might not be nice of me but it always makes me smile

....hahaha...personally I prefer the "accidental" shoulder charge....can be used on cellphone users blocking doorways on trains/buses/shops...and can also be used with great effect...when getting off a bus...and having your exit blocked by those wanting to get on (my pet hate).....but don't forget that after the "accidental" shoulder charge say "sorry"...as you rapidly depart the scene

[Has Thailand finally killed the golden goose?]

I have a Thai mate (who is tops at speaking and understanding English) who organises the longboat tours up and down the Chao Phyra river........caught up with him yesterday.....he mentioned that he has upwards of 40 LT boats available for tourists to tour the river....and normally in the past all of the boats completed 2 sometimes 3 trips a day...which he said was/is sufficient to provide a good income for the boat operators and himself.

He said that for the past month and a half he has only had bookings for 5 or 6 boats a day and he has never experienced the drop in tourists such as he is experiencing now.

[Thai tourism ministry unveils plan for sustainable tourism growth]

If bullshit was dynamite TAT would blow this place apart......

A whole lot of hot air and chest beating "at the conference".......the place is a scruffy dump....rubbish everywhere...scams.......cold blooded murders of tourists...ripoffs...double pricing.....a police force rotten to the core....traffic jams.......sidewalks where you will break your neck or get run over if you are not careful.......front line staff that would rather pick there nose or tap there I-phones.....as you stand patiently in front of them waiting to be served....and the list goes on...........

[Out-of-work beach operators deliver plea to Phuket Gov]

quote..."“If officials want to ask us to explain what good management of beach chairs involves, we are happy to"..unquote

So what is and does "good management of beach chairs"... entail...?? I am puzzled...it sounds like a science

(Hey you with the long arms...you go over there.....Hey you with the stripey colours you go over there)...??

Best thing this mob could do after sitting on their <deleted> for the last 6 months is look for another job.....perhaps learn the Russian, English, Chinese languages (books are available to do so and cheap) then make themselves aware and knowledgable about Thailands history (particularly Phuket's).....and set themselves up as bilingual or multi lingual tour guides...

Isn't it the Thais in Phuket constantly bitching and grizzling about foreign tour guides taking their jobs...!!! (and at the same time can't string three words of a foreign language together)

Karma...ooohhh karma....

The beach belongs to the monarchy who graciously allow the people of this world to relax and enjoy it....without the mongrel, price ripping, mafia control as seen in the past

[Greek diplomat killed trying to jump onto a moving train in Kanchanaburi]

Quote...."Sai Yok, 100 kilometres (62 miles) northwest of Kanchanaburi, is the jumping off point for a national park famed for its picturesque waterfalls".

Brilliant choice of words AFP...!!!!

[Thai Cabinet approves milk price hikes]

how can they even call that shit milk...it is not milk.....it is white coloured water

[Corruption scandal: Police find Bt2-bn in cash, valuables in secret vaults in 11 of Pongpat's homes]

RTP...rotten to the core

[Yingluck says she won't run in next election, wants to be a social worker]

She WHAT....!!!

[Ducati rider dies in Bangkok after speeding into disabled truck]

I live alongside Boromratchonnanee Road...at precisely 11pm each night (you can almost set your clock to it)...a swarm of large bikes..with riders hammering the hell out of them...travelling my guess at well in excess of 100kph...scream along the road...full throttle.

I have often wondered how long it would be before one of these lads was killed

R.I.P to the rider

[Royal Thai Police to get new facelift]

...The first step in this reform would be to remove the word "Royal" from the organisations title...they simply do not deserve to use this word.

We would then be left with "TP"....okay......so let's just pop in "The Pretenders"

So then as these massive reforms go along day by day and are set in place and noticeable...we can (firstly) allow the use of the words "The Police"....and then when we have witnessed the (final step) in the reforms ......."The Police" would get the word "Royal" back

Would somebody please tell my 3 year old grandsons son when the reforms are completed...thank you 3 times

[Navy's submarine acquisition plan can wait]

Funny stuff. As I pointed out in a previous thread, if you take the sub they want to

buy and stick it vertically on the ocean bottom, 50 feet of the sub will be sticking

out in the air.....The King has already stated a sub is a bad idea, am amazed the

military keeps trying to buy one.

How about this. The standard corruption rake off here is about 30 %. So I propose

the generals simply write themselves a check for the 30%, and not actually buy

the sub. This would be a win win, as the government would save 70%, and there

would be no useless sub to embarrass the government in the future like the

aircraft carrier does. Plus this would elimamate the potential of the sub sinking. :-)

...and the average repeat average depth of the Andaman sea is 45 metres....(as stated by he who cannot be named)

[Son of former deputy minister beats girlfriend at Bangkok police station]

...thainess in action....