Robbed by the police
Written by Admin on Thursday, September 11th, 2008
PostBag
Robbed by the police
And in broad daylight! I’m an expat businessman living in Thailand for the past eight years and contributing over 10 million baht a year to the Thai economy. I drive about 40,000km per year. On Sept 9, at 11am I came down Sukhumvit road to enter the expressway taking me to the airport. I was behind a couple a cars that were making the right turn into the toll pay-station as well, but for some reason (perhaps my Phuket number plate?) I was immediately stopped by a policeman riding a green Kawasaki. His face was reddish and round and he was a little stout - beware of him!
He told me I’d made a wrong turn to the right (all I’d done was follow two other cars that were not stopped), and I politely asked how I could possibly make a wrong turn there. He did not want any argument, but wanted a hefty 2,000 baht from me. He made a note of the car, took my Thai driving licence and was non-negotiable. I would have to go to a police station and pay. He knew perfectly well that I could not make a U-turn till much later on the problematic expressway, so I had to pay to him. Furthermore he wanted another 100 baht for returning my driving licence!
Where but in Thailand can a member of the officialdom pass sentence and also collect the money without even giving you a receipt? Perhaps the police are making use of the political anarchy at the moment?
DEPRIVED
————-
Not embarrassed
If Mr Samak presents himself before His Majesty once again to be officially recognised as prime minister, will he not feel any embarrassment? I have a feeling he is beyond embarrassment, possesses only a lust for power, and has no national interests (except his own) as a personal goal. Any man with common sense would have called it quits. However, common sense is something Mr Samak never really possessed.
YANKELEH
————-
Cooling, not warming
A receding glacier in the Alps has revealed human artifacts indicating that the region was warmer 5,000 years ago than it is today, and that such patterns of temperature fluctuation are therefore normal (”Climate change melts glacier revealing ancient relics,” Bangkok Post, Sept 9).
However, the further claim in the same article that “swathes of mountain ranges worldwide risk losing their glaciers if global warming continues as projected” is inconsistent with the data.
The data show that worldwide overall, glaciers are advancing and not receding and the total mass of ice in glaciers is increasing and not decreasing, and lastly that the world is cooling, not warming.
CHA-AM JAMAL
————-
Bring down surcharges
With oil prices down to about $100 a barrel why does the public not see a reduction in airline “fuel surcharge” fees? When oil prices were skyrocketing the airlines lost no time in adding fuel surcharge fees to the normal cost of an air ticket. Why are we not seeing them reduce these fees, now that the cost of oil has decreased significantly?
In one word: gouging! To those not familiar with the English language, this means taking advantage of a situation to unjustly generate profits. Why has the media not brought this issue to the attention of the public?
STEVE RUBENSTEIN
Phuket
————-
Left manner-less
I would like to add to the comments that Malini Manusukhani and Andrew Stewart voiced in their displeasure regarding the “new and improved” Sunday Bangkok Post.
What happened to Miss Manners? Now how will I learn to be polite? The Post is doing a great disservice to the population by cutting her out. Now society will be in total disarray and not know how to behave politely.
What about Dear Abby on Sundays? Suddenly we won’t know what to do about aberrant relatives. What about Dave Barry? Now we won’t know the names that could be cool rock bands.
What about the price? Who wants to spend 40 baht for what you can find free on the internet? The Post needs to get its priorities in order before its subscribers switch to a more national newspaper.
