mogoso

So listed companies benefited during Thaksin's rule. Funny that he declared he was working for the benefit of the poor all this time.

Everyone knows that it was only a facade, he represented interests of big business, and they were the ones to reap the benefits, not the farmers.

Perhaps my understanding of tax revenues and how they are spent is wrong. Lets see you spur economic activitiy, tax the proceeds, and then spend the money where it'll help your country the most. If that means spending on the poor rural much more than they've contributed, that seems fair. Uplifting the poor through programs of health, education, small loans ect doesn't seem such a waste as it'll only improve your base populace.

A country needs a viable private sector business base that can be allowed to profit, look at what China has done. I certainly would want my country to have a pro private business sector president, but alas it doesn't.

The real sadness is that is Moslems killing other Moslems. The radical groups want to exterminate anyone who preaches tolerance with other groups. It is NOT Christians slaying the infidels like in historic times.

If indeed it turns out to be an attack of moslem on moslem. The planners might look to recent events in Pakistan where after a bombing of a mosque the locals gathered together and have been killing the perpetrators themselves.

But Personal economic freedom promotes tolerance and civil society, plain pure and simple. Those who don't allow or want personal economic freedom in their nation, are intolerant and do not wish to live in a civil society, period, end of story.

But doesn't having personal economic freedom mean you have to be responsible for your own life. That would mean having to plan for your medical expenses and pay what the insurance you pay for doesn't cover. You couldn't whine to the gov't to take care of you.

Wouldn't you have to plan and save for your retirement and invest throughout your life to have the type of life you'd want, not the small stipend of social sercurity will provide.

Wouldn't the education you recieve have to teach you basic macro and micro economics and the simple things such as reading the contracts that you sign, how to handle a checking account, understanding the interest you must pay on borrowed money ect ect in short go into life with life skills. You'd be able understand just how the gov't short changes you.

You'd understand that with gov't provided security there isn't freedom, that without freedom there isn't security.

Its just too hard having to think for yourself, when your gov't will be happy to do it for you, for a price.

I think it definately comes down to the fact that in Europe where the study was probably

carried out, wealthier men can attract younger women. We all know why.

Wealthier men can afford a better standard of living, healthcare etc...

Therefore live longer. The age of the wife has nothing to do with it, but that's my

opinion.

The study was done in Denmark. All deaths married or single, wealthy or poor were taken into account to obtain their stats.

Should be fine, no worries

230 volts is not actually that it varies all the time anyways, I am not 100% sure about the herz difference (why do the US always have to invent the wheel again?)

Not certain as to the history of electrical usage, but believe it was an american inventor, Thomas Alva Edison that got the wheel rolling on it, or at least he shed some light on it.

An italian, Alessandro Volta discovered that electricity flowed like a current and not a sudden discharge. We named volts after him.

An englishman Michael Farraday developed the first electrical generator in 1831, by discovering that electrical energy could be produced through magnetism by motion.

40 years past before Edison developed the first practical DC generator.

Swan and edison combined their light bulb technologies

Tesla and Westinghouse develop alternating current that allowed for greater voltage transfer.

so I'm not sure of your comment that the US is always reinventing the wheel, it seems to be they coinvented it.

The US still uses the english system of measurement rather than the newer metric system So who reinvented the wheel there? Napolean tried to establish the metric system in 1793 and then scrapped it till 40 years later France reintroduced it. Is it any wonder a former British colony would stick with a system their people were comfortable with.

Like I added previously was Turkey, I also want to add Barbados - wow, a very beautiful Island indeed.

While Barbados is a lovely little island, it is that, little. Not much to do or see. Surfing at Bathsheba is only ok at times and playing dominos with the taxi drivers or hustling after the visiting snow bunnies is really the only action.

This is actually the second time this has happened to me - as far as I can detect anyway.

I tried to withdraw 10,000 THB via a bankok bank ATM about two weeks ago (JUST before they introduced the 150 THB fee on their machines) (using a nationwide flex cash card)

The ATM whirs and tries to count off the money for 4-5 minutes, and finally returns my card and takes itself out of service ...

For the entire 4-5 minutes it was saying "Dispensing Cash" or something close to that.

This happened once before with a barclays card I had. Luckily with the barclays card, I was back in england the next week, and managed to get the money back. I had the strongest impression they were taking my word for it though.

I have no immediate plans to return the the UK, and was wondering if I had any local recourse to get that money back.

I will make a point that the machine gave me NO receipt, NO pointer to a help desk or anything. And it is quite clear from the internet record I supiciously checked that the money has been clearly debited from my account.

I am sure others have experienced this - any advice?

Given how much I use the ATM, and that this has happened twice now (I think possibly once in Malaysia too) I need to get a clear strategy together to mitigate losses in time and money.

Whether Al Gore and others are right or not about global warming/climate change, the fact is ...........WE ARE TRASHING THIS PLANET and the air that surrounds us!!!

And up here in Chiang Mai, it does seem to be getting hotter and drier over the last decade that I've been here.

Would like to see some figures on temp and rainfall over the last decade or more!!

Ok I'll give you trashing the planet, that is something we should be concerned with.

I'd like to see the monthly average temp for the past ten years to compare. On that I believe you'd have a hard time proving your case as I think you'll find it just a result of getting older with the need to bitch about something. All old folks do it

But back to trash that is something you/we can do something about. Get with your neighbors, organize a neighborhood cleanup party. Spend the morning with your neighbors picking up trash, spend the afternoon getting trashed with them. You'll not be able to convince many to change their actions but if you get one or more, its a start. It might promote a little goodwill, and what the heck, cost of the food and beer, really not much, but a block party is priceless.

Buy bottle of concentrate -- just as good

Try eating that bottle after you've poured the juice into your som tam.

While citrus grows all year, there are better seasons for it. Our prices range between 3 for a dollar to 10 for a dollar depending what time of year. right now they're 5 for a buck.

There always someone willing to be the grammar critic eh?

Personally I would like to see the baht devalued so I would have more money.

Anybody else share this point of view?

My wife would disagree, she has a few millions in the bank, it'd hurt her (our) bottom line.

This whole thing is totally retarded, just like most of the people in these protests and the police. The blind leading the blind. I have been living in Thailand 11 years, and i have started to hate the red shirts to be honest. Close airports, mess up normal peoples lives in Bangkok. oh much love to your cause. i think NOT!!!!! Bring out the tear gas and let the police grow a pair of balls for god sake!!!

I believe your recalling the activities of the yellow shirts, afaik not a problem at the airport with red shirts.

Lovely, this will really endear the reds to Bangkokians.

Considering how the populace of Bangkok votes, I don't think the Reds care how they feel

Yep Rubbish.

Sorry, but i used the office in Bangkok twice for some documentation and both times somewhere there was an error.

Won't use them again, but maybe I was just unlucky.

I hope you were. I recieved a PM from another Thaivisa member who was quite satisfied with his move by Siam. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. I'll have to experience it for myself to decide.

Getting things together for our permanant move to Thailand, I called a company I saw here on Thaivisa.

I spoke with a gentleman located in California, who quoted me, (what I thought were great prices) to ship from Atlanta to Chiang Mai with an inspection stop in Bangkok.

A 20' trailer (about 7 meters) would be delivered to my home, which I would fill with our household posessions. I would have to list all of the contents. It would be picked up, taken to BKK via ship, and then trucked up to Chiang Mai where I would unload and then the trailer would be taken away.

Costs were $2,950 ( dollars) to BKK

Port fee and inspection fee were 8,000 and 6,000 thai baht

The shipping cost to Chiang Mai was 24,000 baht with a 4,000 baht with trailer pickup fee

All in all it'd be about $4200 dollars

How many have used Siam International? I spoke with a gentleman who just seemed to be knowledgable and confident about his companies abilities, which instilled a bit of confidence in me. Not to easy to do as I'm generally a non trusting cranky old #@$T$%U^^

you should ask those Ame'cans or middle-easterners

The US has had falling consumption for 14 straight months, part of it was the high price of oil then the recession. I believe oil producers are finally producing less to be able to charge more coupled with the reduction of the value of the dollar. In the US the price will continue to rise as inflation hits, due to gov't spending money it doesn't have.

I've had a few strange landings and of course the always thrilling lightning strike. The lightning strike itself was of course odd, not rare but infrequent, but the dang turbulence on that flight was nothing short of Disneyland. Seems like all my flights through Taipai end up odd.

Flying from San Pedro Sula to Roitan the old DC-3 went 45% and back on the landing to miss a palm tree. As soon as we hit the tarmac rather joltedly a cabinet flew open to scatter toilet paper in the front aisles. Seemed rather appropo

Coming from Miami to Bogota we just about put wheels on the runway when pilot gave it full power and got it airborne again. As we circled around to try the landing again the American Airline pilot announced a Colombian Air Force plane wandered into our runway. Quick reactions and knowledge of his aircraft has my thanks.

Get him out over the weekend.However, taking some of your post regarding time then I believe this would be the issue.

I assume first that she would speak to the neighbours. Obviously you don't want them saying they saw me loading half the house into the car. If they knew nothing or little, then she would just wait, presuming she could not contact me on the phone. At what point she would even think about contacting the authorities, which I presume would be the police, I do not know.

What do you want to take outta the country your stuff or your son. I know a Scotsman has a reputation for being a wee bit tight with his funds, but in a situation where you want to not stand out, take the minimum amount of things for you and your son. You can buy more stuff when you get home. Easier to travel with a youngun when you travel light.

The laws of Thailand should be determined by the people of Thailand, not by a random group of foreigners.

Even though some of the reds are speaking out against the monarchy and Lese Majesty laws, the majority are not.

The majority of the people love the monarchy, whatever side they are on and most likely agree with the current laws.

Foreigners have no right to tell them what is best, that is hypocritical and not true democracy anyway. A democracy is what the people want, even if it happens to contradict what foreigners agree with.

Colour me Thai Visa Orange. I neither agree with the reds entirely or the yellows more than a little bit. I guess that makes me an orange shirt. The people do love their monarch, they do agree with the laws. Its us dang old farangs trying once again to put our ideas into their culture. A good portion of the crying done on Thai Visa is from those who want their "better" ideas to be adopted into the Thai culture. Whether they're good ideas or bad, let the Thais do it themselves or it'll end up another PC country headed down the tubes.

I have said it once and I'll say it again...

I cannot believe that anyone can say this guy deserves to spend more time in jail. After the incident, they just should have apologized for causing him to miss his plane, kicked him out and blacklisted him.

The way Thailand is marketed, the smiling locals, the mai pen rai attitude, the beautiful people, beaches and generally a place to feel good and have fun without thinking does not give a true picture of life on the ground. The only danger tourists hear about is some vague comments about not raising your voice in public as it causes a loss of face or something about covering up when walking around. No where (because of marketing) does it mention the potentially fatal consequences of causing someone to lose face. When something goes wrong, the tourist is completely surprised, in a ditch or worse.

I think they should show a video on all the incoming flights showing behavior expected of all visitors and reminding folks that government officials (police, immigration) have very wide discretionary powers and can have you throw in jail/deported at the drop of a hat. Additionally, they should show examples of actual instances where people were thrown in jail, shot, stabbed, beaten up etc for causing someone to lose face. Bet that would go over with the TAT. And finally, they should show some jail videos with voice overs by people who have spent time on the inside. Now that would keep folks on their toes.

The airport immigration staff should be enrolled in cultural sensitivity courses to remind them that visitors do not understand the societal rules of Thailand and should be given some leeway with their indiscretions. Yeah, yeah, yeah the guy was pressed for time, snatch his passport and used the F word. But that does not equate to the punishment he has received so far.

Of course the incoming flight video and the immigration training will never happen... but I can dream... can't I?

TheWalkingMan

Proper polite bahavior should be taught in the home by parents, reinforced by their educational system and place of worship (if applicable) To be shown a film on how to act polite and respectful to another human being on a plane going to another country is a bit late in the game. His martial arts education alone should have been sufficent to have toned down his response to bad behavior directed toward him. His race may or may not have caused the bad behavior of the immigration official, maybe his attitute did rather than anything else. I've been cavity searched at the airport leaving Colombia and at the arriving US airport. Solely because of the profile being used at that time. I was a bit irked, but smiled and accepted that they were doing their job. Even though it almost caused me a bit of inconvience narrowly making a connecting flight, I understood thats the way gov'ts operate, and I can't change it, and by acting a bore it can have consequences

When I read these stories it terrifies me. I have never used drugs, but the thought of a false positive, and subsequently being sent to the woefully overcrowded Phuket Provincial Prison for who knows how long scares the hel_l out of me. From where I am from, this blatant violation of personal liberty would be unconscionable.

And where are you from? You can always demand a re-test and sure, sit in jail until they'll retest you but you're not gonna die. Even if tested positive..you go through stationary procedure like you would do elsewhere. And yes, US or German cops can be nasty too...so no reason to wet your pants.

I would be upset at getting a positive simply from my intake of bagels covered in poppy seeds.

I like to make and ingest them. They're downright tasty.

I watched an episode of Myth Busters and darn if eating a couple of bagels will produce a positive on a drug test. It'd be a case of blind justice as it'd be a true postitive for an legal act.

TV is an excellent forum to explain everything about Thai immigration laws and help people to understand and advise them, but they should never step out of that lines, to be involved in criticizing Thai immigration laws or form pressure groups to change them.

I Think some people not yet realise that Colonial times and attitudes are a thing of the past. Why in heaven name a country should change his immigration laws to please you. They seems to forget that immigration laws are made to protect the country, not to please foreigners of all kind.

OK I prepare myself for all the flaming and personal attacks

I agree with you. Some people that move to Thailand want things to be as it is where they came from. With laws and attitudes to go with their home countries mores.

I grew up in Florida and the tourists and newbies would come down and continuely tell us what we should be doing, how its done in NY or Mass ect. My favorite bumber sticker was if you don't like how we do things here take I-95 north (large highway)

Sure its a pain in the tukass at times, but the difference in life is why you live in Thailand and not your home country.

I've used Bank of America a few times and found it to be pricey $40 per transfer. I've been using RBC Royal Bank of Canada and its a bit better at $20 per transfer. I just opened an account with Washington Mutual WaMu and they have no transfer fees. However they're not fully intergrated with Chase yet, and I don't know how'll that'll effect pricing. The nice thing is all are checking accounts and none have any monthly fees. I use them for different purposes to keep business and personal apart.

Send money to my Thai girlfriends, absolutely not!

My wife would kill me

actually that is very plausable,they'd know for sure from the head if it was severed or not.have to await the coroners verdict.

Judging from the photo, suicide seems highly improbable. However considering its Thailand nothing the BIB surmise as to the cause of deaths could ever surprise me.

My sympathies go out to his friends and loved ones, whomever they be.

Does anyone else have any pet hates regarding common errors in English that crop up frequently here? Is this really something we should be careful of, in the case of native speakers, because the Thai members are obviously going to believe that we don't even know our native language?

Oops, senior moment I meant to cut the above message and reply to this.

First grammar spelling syntax on this or any other internet site is just fine and dandy with me. I don't proof read what I've written and I'm sure many do not. As been noted many on forum aren't native speakers.

What bothers me is reading my local bird cage wrapper where they do have proof readers and seeing the misuse of of many words or a lack of understanding of punctuation. My particular

peeve is the use and misuse of there, their, and they're.