Motorbike deathtraps
The figure given by the Thailand Development Research Institute researchers, that is, the cost of motorbike accidents throughout the country -- 500 billion baht or 3% of GDP per year -- should be advertised on billboards everywhere (Opinion, Feb 13).
The measures proposed are well and good (I would include spot checks every day to verify the condition of motorbikes, in particular making sure their rear lights are working: I had several near misses with two-wheelers who were invisible at night). Those measures, however, mean that one is dealing with sensible people who can be instilled with a modicum of discipline, and with police that actually enforce the law everyday.
JF Leduc
Expat exploitation
In Postbag on Feb 12 I wrote how the Thai government has made a mockery of the 800,000-baht requirement for a one-year visa. Now let's discuss the equally outrageous option of wiring 65,000 baht a month into a Thai bank account.
First, let me remind readers that you are fools if you think can wire that much income into a Thai bank account without the Thai IRS taking notice.
But this is what blows my mind. Immigration would accept income "verification" letters from the American embassy, despite the fact that the embassy had admitted they didn't investigate the claims made in the letter. Yet Immigration would never consider 12 months' worth of bank statements from an American bank which would virtually verify the claims of income made by the expat. To say that immigration is as ridiculous as it is cruel would be an understatement of monumental proportions.
Eric Bahrt
Foreigners unwanted
When will Eric Bahrt and others realise that retired foreigners are not welcome in Thailand. The government wants short-termers, tourists, who come, spend and leave. No other Asian country makes it so difficult for expats to live here than Thailand. Many expat friends have picked up and left after 20 years here, to relocate to Laos and Cambodia.
If not for my land, (I don't own it), my house, (I do), or my dogs, I would be long gone as well. I do not consider relocating as "starting over", but as continuing where I left off. Wise up expats. The squeeze will continue until there are fewer and fewer of us left. My advice to you all is to have iron-clad wills, and leave everything you have to a friend or other. When you eventually drop dead, make sure the government does not profit even a baht from your demise.
Yankeleh
Smoke and mirrors
During last week's smog attack, our prime minister wisely suggested that more people should use public transport to go to work and back. I am pleased, in some ways, to report that people appear to be following this very sensible advice.
On the other hand at Phra Khanong station last week I had to wait for up to 10 trains to enter and leave the station each morning before I could board, and even then it was just a tad sardine-ish. Surely the answer is to extend the trains by just one more carriage to support the prime minister's valuable suggestion and to serve the public. In developed countries, commuter transport is run at a loss to serve the nation's business community.
Warner
Noise and hot air
The government has rightly passed a ruling about the overabundance and sometimes dangerous mounting of election posters at intersections and zebra crossings causing a danger to both traffic and pedestrians.
The government should have legislated one step further and done something about those trucks driving up and down the same streets every few minutes, blasting candidates names and numbers at a painfully high decibel level. Many neighbourhood Thais have already declared that they'd rather not vote, than vote for some pompous idiot who is inconsiderate of the environment, or a bit of quiet.
Marigold
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