prometheus

To some extent, Zalora.com is quite a hit for Asian fashion and clothing. E-Books are taking off soon

But unlike the UK where retail is derailing, Thailand is still expanding a lot on physical retail stores, as you could see with numerous malls popping up here and there.

An interesting point, may be it is to do with the founding principle "To be Thai is to be Free" , things were pretty much nearly 100% privately run because Thailand has such a dysfunctional government (or may be it is to be kept that way) . You look at the things that are reasonably "good" in thailand, cars, cinema, hospitals... all only the private entities do well (new Mercedes vs those green 'Mercedes' buses and Bumrunraj vs any government hospital, hotels and... goverment shelter ?) Most thai thinks that any form of govermental bodies are of blood sucking corrupted nature and would like to stay away from them as much as possible.

I'm surprised with how low people here allow them to be just to help some farang clan, even a criminal is considered by people here innocent because he is white. Seems like a lot of rednecks here

why should someone be paid for doing nothing ?

If the debate is about wealthy parents having bragging rights for their children attending good school / university, any ambitious parents who put lots of efforts into making the future of their children better than of their own deserves it. Children in wealthier family going to better off school happens everywhere you can think of, Bill Gates was attending Seattle Lakeside school costing $50,000 a year which could afford computer terminals in the time that most schools would have no idea what a computer even was, but paying off with a 50 billion USD net wealth seems like a good investment to me.

Lets be honest here, the traditional Thai educational system is really not the best one to take upon, especially for children of those "middle class" (I'm tempted to say hi-class since there's not that many people above them) family. There is a lot less choice of what one can take at post-secondary level, in which studying in the UK or US will give them much better experience and opportunity to pursue their hopes and dreams in the future. Which is exactly the reason why there are international schools in thailand, the whole purpose is to ensure that the students have an equal opportunity in continuing their education at the best place that they can possibly go.

Obviously, if it is in the minds of the parents to send their children abroad, lets say to United States which cost 50,000$ a year for at least 4 years of college , a fee of less than 10,000$ a year is not really a concern for those parents. If it is a concern, chances are, they will not be able to afford the post-secondary education abroad in which case the parents should send their children to the best Thai school that is available.

For people who do not think that there are "middle class" (again, I will call this hi-income earner) in Thailand who have the money, you should wake up, this is not even the first international school which targets this particular social group, the hi-income class has been expanding in vast amount in the past decade and most of them, at least the decent ones, have tuition fee in the range of 200K-500K. These are not the average people you see on an average street selling noodles, they are business owners, doctors and people in other high-flying professions who have atleast seven digits annual salary.

Hi,

I live in the same area. There is a place called Narathorn http://www.narathorn.com/nrtsport/index.php its quite quiet and lots of women and family go there, have swimming pool, tennis court and a reasonable gym. Its very close to Seacon.

I think its at MBK intersection, anyone in bangkok will be able to tell you where that is

Interesting.

It could be that , as they rightly stated, your girl friend is going to be there for 3 months which they would consider a bit too long period for someone earning a salary in Chiangmai to be financially able.

Since now your girl friend has a visa-refusal marked on her passport, it is quite difficult to play it out now without having to explain to another embassy of what the reasons were for refusal.

I would suggest the following

1. Shorten your length of visit, perhaps down to 1-2 weeks, its a lot easier to get a second visa after you had the first one.

2. A good bank statement would do, more than enough to cover entire trip, I would estimate 1000 euro per week for visiting EU area.

3. Since you are now married it should be easier.

If none of those go through, then try travelling to other countries first, if this is the first time your girl friend travels outside thailand it could be viewed suspiciously. All visa applications require you to state previous destinations where the person has been granted entry, it adds to the credibility that the person is there for genuine tourism purpose and not as an economic migrant.

Good luck and congratulations on your marriage.

Try kindle or whatever ebook stores there are (a few restrictions but should not be too much of trouble)

I came to a conclusion after hearing/reading about a lot of foreigners living in another country. Regardless of what people perceived to be that off economic, social or infrastructure difference that causes the "unhappiness" or the perceived injustice, here is my conclusion.

It seems that this applies only to foreigners who moved to another country in most cases on their own, not with their big family, in most cases a lone man , in fact does not matter where he came from or where he went to. After a period of time, his sense and perception started changing and having delusions that some people (ie the native) are against him and everything is bad. Then started the rant, he will start thinking that he is discriminated against, when the fact is there are only a very small fraction of his day to day life which he ever actually got that kind of discrimination. The worst cure, is to go around and get drunk in a pub, never helps, he will only wake up to find him self in the same situation and continuously perceive the world to be worst than it is. I would term this an expat disease which is, in my opinion, a form of "homesickness" but with other symptoms going in. The disease, I have not found much of studies from psychological journals, would be of an interesting subject as the world as we are living in really have a lot of people suffering those symptoms.

People who are most susceptible to such disease have the following attributes from a brief survey

1. Male aged 20-50

2. Consumes alcohol regularly

3. Usually do not have an occupation which they are satisfied at.

4. Do not have a supportive group of friends/colleague but instead hanging out with other contracted person.

5. Substance abuse (apart from alcohol, such as caffeine)

6. lack of physical/sporting excercise

7. lack of interesting hobbies (ie scuba diving, snowboard etc, flying planes)

The reason I classified it as a disease is, it is such a common and I would say, nearly predictable set of symptoms. others may have different view

This is what is sickening, some guy got arrested for abusing children and you are claiming that he is the victim because he is a foreigner ?

I guess Josef Fritzl was also a victim of the police as well

It is sickening me how people here even pity such a low life who preys on young girls and expect to get away, as if lots of the comment here consider him "one of us"

Better keep your sides clear.

You need to get it clear. If you read again, you will see that, rather than pity any low life here, the discussion has been about how vulnerable men -- maybe even women -- are to entrapment, or false charges. Irrespective of the veracity of charges here, the truth is that foreigners -- you might say as a result of their own actions -- have become sitting ducks for any woman who can easily level false charges to extract money not just for herself but leave big takings for the cops as well. The lesson from this story (never mind whether the Finnish national is innocent or guilty) is : Ignore that risk at your own peril.

"there aren't many/any famous restaurants in Thailand? There is Cabbages and Condoms but I don't think that they are famous for their food. I can't even think of any restaurants that have a sign up "Since 1950/whatever" but maybe that sign is in Thai language? "

There are, go and read some guide books or ask thai people

How much are we prepared to take the climate crisis ?

Just look at financial crisis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

"The loss of the craft was the result of several factors, including a design flaw that resulted in asymmetric torque, software errors in the small forces model, and management inattention.

The metric/US customary units mix-up that destroyed the craft was caused by a human error in the software development.^[1] The thrusters on the spacecraft, which were intended to control its rate of rotation, were controlled by a computer that underestimated the effect of the thrusters by a factor of 4.45. This is the ratio between a pound force (the standard unit of force in the United States customary units system) and a newton (the standard unit in the metric system). The software was working in pounds force, while the spacecraft expected figures in newtons; 1 pound force equals approximately 4.45 newtons."

It is sickening me how people here even pity such a low life who preys on young girls and expect to get away, as if lots of the comment here consider him "one of us"

Better keep your sides clear.

you're an idiot, DIC stands for "Diploma of Imperial College

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_of_Imperial_College

If you don't know Imperial College, I suspect you have not really worked in ESA.

As one can see from his academic qualifications, this man is entitled to put 'DIC' after his name.

Simon

Sir, I advice you check out this TED video before you make further comments

Well, it certainly reads like a fairy story, all right.

There is a certain sort of person who needs to make themselves feel important and meaningful by pretending to have discovered the latest Oh No We're Doomed scenario, and this fellow fits the profile perfectly.

Your response is uninformed, Rick. You may be skeptical of Dr Art-ong's views, but he doesn't need to make himself important.

This is his CV:

...

(huge list of achievements and pachydermic awards)

So this chap appears to be at the very top level of Thai scientific repute. Let's examine some of his claims:

Gulf of Thailand would be hit by tsunamis Ajong said humans were mainly to blame for such disasters

What? How can humans possibly cause earthquakes and tsunamis?

Ajong explained that over the past three decades the temperature has risen

Actually, over the last decade there has been little or no rise in global temperature.

earthquakes being of greater magnitude.

Where is the evidence of this, and how can humans be responsible for it?

Ajong said polar bears would be extinct in less than 10 years

Who believes this? The World Conservation Union for example has cited a "suspected population reduction of >30% within 45 years" - that is a huge difference from 'extinction in just ten years'. Many believe even this is too pessimistic, pointing out that the exact total population of polar bears is unknown, and some populations are increasing.

Earthquakes within the 6-Richter scale and severe flooding would hit provinces in the North

Just what is the '6-Richter' scale? (To be fair this might be the invention of the reporter rather than the leading scientist - but where is his evidence that earthquakes are going to hit particular provinces? Does he use tea leaves or tarot cards for these predictions?)

the seas would rise by six metres.

No time frame is given for this prediction, but the article hints the time frame is ten years. The IPCC's mid-range prediction is for a 50cm rise by 2100. Twelve times lower over a 9 time longer period.

If this is the level of science espoused by one of the most distinguished scientists in Thailand, god help us!

Oh dear....oh dear....oh dear..... we are doomed.

I am reading this novel, the first sci-fi I have seen basing in "future" Thailand, in a world where oil has ran out and food is power, "The Windup Girl"

http://www.amazon.com/Windup-Girl-Paolo-Bacigalupi/dp/1597801585/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283901934&sr=1-1

Why is then that I know so many Thai's with university degrees and master degrees making only 12,000 to 15,000 baht.

"If bank deposits - the most popular saving method in Thailand - are used as an indicator, it showed that 89 per cent of the total 77 million accounts own only 4 per cent of total deposits of Bt7.3 trillion. Worse, only 1 per cent of the accounts owned 72 per cent of deposits."

iko,

You are right on the spot. Why then have a consulate office? Why then warn citizens not to visit a country when in danger? The health and welfare of the citizens should be its concern not only shaking hands with Foreign Minister and ambassadors of other countries.

Have you ever heard of travel insurance agencies?

Of course embassies also offer a certain services for their fellow countrymen, but they are not a welfare institution.

So sad and tragic individual cases maybe, that is not the job of an embassy to help here out.

That said, a hospital in a developing country is not a welfare institution either.

I wonder if someone would complain if the hospital decided to wheel the guy out of the hospital and park him in the street awaiting his death?

This is the kind of situation where an exception should be made.

I actually feel like taking some action to make this happen.

And hospitals in "developed countries" like Germany certainly will not be welfare institution , you will not even get a visa without a travel insurance, Thailand let people in too easily.

My wife's ID card expired while we were living in the uk. She didn't renew it until we returned to Thailand about 2 years later.

I don't think it would be possible to renew the ID card by post.

My advice would be to get your wife to contact the Thai Embassy in London and ask them what she should do.

Royal Thai Embassy London

29 - 30 Queen's Gate

London

SW7 5JB

Telephone : 020-7589-2944 Ext. 5500

Fax : 020-7823-7492

Thank you for the advise.

Does anybody know how many years a Thai ID lasts for? My wifes is 6 years but she seems to think that this is wrong (it should only be 5 years). I have looked on Google images and they appear to last for either 6 or 7 years. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

There is nothing serious with it, your wife will not be put in jail or something if her id card expired, she just need to go to her local district office when she comes back to thailand and make a new one.

I have a better idea, since most people would view paying a fine for the alleged liter on the street as "corruption" (among other things which are branded under such circumstance) I propose an alternative: requiring an hour of public service such as cleaning up the street instead of the fine.

This country is awash with litter the roadsides are filthy with discsrded rubbish people don't think twice about rolling down a vehicle window and throwing their rubbish out, and no one does a thing about it. Forget the cigarette butts and start importing other countries garbage and dump it where ever because who cares in Thailand...Unless there's a few baht to be made from a stupid foreigner.

Unfortunately I think you hit the nail on the head here.

It is really sad to see the total disregard for littering here.

Try london, 1 cig every step you take