Experts worried as bug eating turns trendy

The growing popularity of insect eating in Thailand has begun to worry experts who are concerned about the possible impact on the environment.  A two-year study has found that Thais, traditionally partial to ants, giant water beetles and grasshoppers, have recently added another 11 insect species to their diet.  Once confined to the rural poor in the north of the country, bug eating has now become fashionable among wealthy city Thais, according to research team leader Angoon Lewvanich.
Species such as bamboo caterpillars now fetch as much as 1,000 Baht per kilo and everything from ants to scorpions can be found in Bangkok's markets, he said.  In nutritional terms bug eating was given the thumbs up.  The research team found that protein levels compared favourably with prawns and freshwater fish.

(Un) Safe Sex

A serving girl found that condoms may be more risky than the alternative.  In the wee hours, as work finished, a customer at Jae Toy restaurant suggested repairing to her room together for more intimate conversation.
She found the proposition appealing.   But when he had readied himself, as he imagined, to do the deed, she demurred, insisting that he don a "raincoat".
She was quite firm upon the point.  He was equally insistent that he would not comply.  Finding her unyielding, he promptly shot the girl twice through her chest with a 9mm automatic.  She survived and is now in Wachira hospital. He escaped.

Play by the rules

In reply to the letter from John Fan, on vehicle ownership, if he examines the rules he might find that they are applied equally to Thais and farangs.
If you want to own a vehicle or have a Thai driving license, you have to produce evidence of your address and ID.  For Thais this means your ID card and house registration paper.
For foreigners this means your passport and a letter from either your consulate/embassy or local immigration office, to confirm that you actually live here.  If you don't have a non-immigrant visa then it's going to be difficult to get confirmation of your permanent address, as you are only here as a tourist.
The reason for confirmation of your address is that if there is an accident involving the vehicle then the authorities know where to track you down.  If you're a farang then you could easily flee the scene overseas.
I know of one case of a farang tourist killing a local in a motorcycle accident and fleeing overseas to avoid any legal action.   He had rented his bike from a hire shop, leaving only a photocopy of his passport as security.  A smart move on his part, but the shop owners had to carry the cost of compensation, as well as losing a motorcycle to the police.
So, it makes sense that you need to provide confirmation of your Thai residential address.  If you haven't got a non-immigrant visa, then it hardly suggests that you live here in Thailand.  If you can provide confirmation of your ID and address then you can own a vehicle.
Regarding buying a vehicle still in the previous owner's name, why do it?  ( It makes the buying process easier - if you trust the vendor, but means you can't legally sell the vehicle ) This is a bit silly, no?   The way to get around this is to have the previous owner complete the sale/transfer of ownership papers, leaving the new owner's name blank, then you can at least sell the vehicle at a later date.
The same applies to owning a telephone.   The TOT ( Telephone Organisation of Thailand ) needs confirmation of your ID and address so that they know from whom to collect the money.  They don't want fly by night tourists.
The same goes for bank loans.  You need to provide some solid local security - confirmation of ID, address and collateral.   If you haven't got any, who's going to lend you any money?  It's no different to the system that the Thais operate under, or to what you expect in the West.
You need to study and understand the system, then make an attempt to get in it.

David Unkovitch, Chiang Mai

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