kropotkin

Agree whole heartedly with op,

Yes it's a double standard but one based on perceived status,

I don't take it personally and at the end of the day it's still just chump change,

no different then the odd coinage going into the ash tray for the maid.

If someone's standard of living is slightly increased because of it, all the better.

I have no problem paying the extra pittance, but the cheap charlies and under funded pensioners will always rationize what a hardship this is on them.

NO!

This cheap charlie gives a tip to fair people.

This cheap charlie does not give a satang to cheaters.

Do you think it is good to give extra money to the con artists? To the ones that betray thai culture? You could give extra money to the honest people, to the real thais....... But that would require an effort of you.

I see absolutely no reason to "increase the living standard" of con artists.

You help them to bring thai culture down! Shame on you!

I believe in universal values.

hehehe "believe" is probably not the right word....

and it is difficult to be sure what those values are, even in our own culture - and very difficult in different cultures.

but there are universal values that i try to uphold, where ever i am.

i am not saying that i am good at upholding those values.

but i try.

i try in thailand, just like i try in europe.

i do not accept the "it is their culture" nonsense.

In the sixties we changed the european culture.

we stopped a war.

we stopped sexism.

we stopped bullying by european hiso and church..

ok, not for 100%,.....

but we achieved much.

that is why the thai elite does not want us here.

End of rant.....

This evening i wanted to take a taxi near Robinson.

Here in chanthaburi,taxis do not have meters.

My favourite taxi driver was not there, nor were the ones that i know / know me.

Regular fare is 40 baht, i tip 10 baht (that is 25%), making it 50 baht.

Now some jerk asked 100, i said no thank you, i can walk, next he went down to 50,i kept smiling.

AND I WALKED.

My hero! (I walk a lot.)

And another story....

We always phone that same trusted taxi driver when we need transport.

He is the one that told us all the rates inside and outside chanthaburi.

One sundaynight we phoned him - he said he did not work on sundays, but would get us a friend taxidriver ( that is what he always does when he cannot drive us)

Next he rings us back - no one available he says, but i am visiting family not far from you, i will pick you up.

Taxi driver shows up, in his regular car, not taxi, with his wife and 2 kids.

Brings us home.

Next refuses to be paid, because " i am not working today" he says.

The extremes of thailand !

I find conversion to any religion to be quite pathetic, especially when someone moves to an obviously less developed country and takes to their beliefs. As if the evidence of the flaws in their system isn't an indicator. Amulet wearers I find particularly ridiculous.

In the sixties we fought against outdated traditions and behaviour in europe.

We won.

I was right, my father was wrong.

I am not going to accept that same backwardnes here in thailand.

We will win again.

This evening i wanted to take a taxi near Robinson.

Here in chanthaburi,taxis do not have meters.

My favourite taxi driver was not there, nor were the ones that i know / know me.

Regular fare is 40 baht, i tip 10 baht (that is 25%), making it 50 baht.

Now some jerk asked 100, i said no thank you, i can walk, next he went down to 50,i kept smiling.

AND I WALKED.

The eggs by weight is only being tried out in Bangkok. The scheme will run for three months and the government will then re-assess the situation.

I KNEW this government had a function!!

What situation?

And of course the chickens won't have a say in all this.

Bloody typical for this country.

The name of the game is CAPITALISM.

I see we now have an" i-Pope app," you can do your confessions online.

great idea - you can behave as you like so long as you tell a priest afterwards and then do a few "hail Mary's" - now it seems you don't even have to go through the hassle of going to church and sitting in the cubicle?

Just make sure that your wife does not know your nickname.

so I expect soon we'll get a "Buddha app" in which you can do what you like and then press a few buttons to "make merit" and all your sins will be absolved too? - very little change from normal Thai buddhism there then.

internet banking has yet to be developed in thailand

an appropriate song: plastic jesus riding on the dashboard of my car.

you can google or youtube it.

In the buddhist forum, a poster asked: is it different to donate to a monk, rather then to others.

The answer was YES.

Next the Person that answered (remark the cap lock, it is a clue) continued by saying that donating to a prominent monk will send more and bigger riples in your karma.

Ha

Another 41 posts kropothingy and we'll see you in bedlam.

Bedlam?

I am not a native.

eeuuhhh not a native english speaker.

so i googled bedlam.

I am not100% sure, but i think you finally got the hang of insulting other posters.

well done.

eeuuhhh, in your case, half done.

thanks for being so understanding.

i am off to town now, wife is not home, so i have to seize the opportunity.

If you need an insult, call me

yours sincerely.

kropotkin

PS if you come accross miss thible in this forum, send him my kindest insults

Wife (thai) paid 2.200 for 6 fillings.

Chanthaburi, private clinic.

And it is NOT more silly than conversion to other faiths.

I know this is supposed to be an argument, but I agree on this.

You realy don't get it hey???

You CAN NOT AGREE with anything i say.

For god's sake, this is TV.

Just for once, follow the rules.

As practiced by all the other posters.

To the mods:

This is NOT off topic.

I am seriously trying to convert posters to Monthpythonism.

It IS the future, you know.

And it is NOT more silly than conversion to other faiths.

And if that silly Moony replies to this: Yes it is, then he is being argumentative.

Which proves my point.

But then again, he might say " no it does not"

Who needs LoonyMoony anyways, i can fill this thread all by myself.

And Canadians? do not make me laugh. What good did they ever do for this planet?

Ok, they got rid of those shitting baby seals.

OK, they are stubbornly NOT americans.

But apart from that?

To the mods:

This is NOT off topic.

I am seriously trying to convert posters to Monthpythonism.

It IS the future, you know.

And it is NOT more silly than conversion to other faiths.

Lawdy, Lawdy massah Kropotkin, watz yo all talkin bout?

Argument or insult?

Make up your mind please.

I can do combinations too, if you prefer.

Thank you SICHONSTEVE and thaihome for your posts that are so spot on and cut through so much of the garbage posted in this thread.

I was tempted, but not enough, to post a comprehensive list of what to do by summarizing the negative threads, such as:

1. Don't bother to fill out the application completely or accurately or attach documents as the visa application review process is pure luck, like the lottery and depends on whether the interviewer burnt his toast that morning.

2. Pay attention to the advice of people who did not get their visas as they are the best judge of how to get it done, not the advice from "know it alls" that got their visas many times and think they know something, when it is pure luck they got theirs, not their preparation.

3. It doesn't make any difference if you have had a fiance for a year or more when your turned down as that experience clearly applies to men married to their Thai wife for five years or more and has lived with her on a long stay visa for all that time since luck is what controls, not the facts.

4. Interviewers have heard it all before so telling the complete truth and having a convincing story makes no difference because they just don't listen or even look at the documents.

5. Too many documents result in denials so don't document what facts you are trying to establish. After all, confirming the truth of your story with documents is unnecessary as the interviewer will believe your story when you tell it. Thus it is your choice to pick and choose which facts your document and which you don't as you can't predict which facts the interviewer will feel are important and even if you are lucky and do document those facts, the interviewer is to lazy to look for the document.

ad naseum.

I think it is relevant to emphasize that the law requires the interviewer to begin the interview with the mindset that the applicant is going to overstay and it is up to the applicant to prove to him otherwise. That approach by the interviewer is in the Department of States many websites on the subject.

Having dealt with claims adjusters for insurance companies for many years, I can tell you that is their approach also to all claims presented to them. They call it "raising red flags" and basically in reviewing a claim, all they really do is look for red flags, omissions in information they believe is important to establish the "burden of proof" that is on the applicant as it is in visa interviews. Likewise they look for inconsistencies in the information and statements that don't ring true to the interviewer.

We can wail all day about how unfair the process is, but until they change the law that allows all countries unbridled power in the granting or denying of visas, we have to deal with it.

Aussies will confirm that they get no third visitors visa for their Thai girlfriends because Aussie Immigration or the BKK Embassy feels that two visitors visas are enough for a girlfriend and that in the normal flow of things, the relationship should point toward marriage by the third visit so a marriage or partner visa is the next visa to qualify for! Guys who don't want to formalize their relationship with their Thai girlfriends are just plain out of luck, visa wise.

Since you cannot predict what pre-conceived notions the interviewer will come to the interview with, hitting each and every base in your story and documenting them should give him or her the one or two facts that they are looking for to base their decision on and which fits their preconceived notions on what is legitimate. It is called a "shotgun" approach, spraying enough gunk on the wall hoping that some of it will stick.

I have no doubt that you are trying to help bona fide applicants.

I have no doubt that what you say is true.

I have no doubt that i am lucky to be a european, not an american.

America: heaps of lawyers, lots of talk about The Free, but reality sucks.

??? no you're not ????

do you consider that an argument?

come on, you can do better than that.

after all the hours you have wasted on this forum,surely you can

for starters, you could mix facts and opinions.

you could call me an absolute idiot.

you could question my reading skills.

you could tell me to go home since i do not like it here

you could call me a whinger, or rosy glasses, a yellow shirter, a red shirter, your choice entirely

as a last resort you could get an ED visa and ask miss trible (not too sure about the exact name of that poster) for private tuition in insults and nonsense arguments.

yours sincerely,

kropotkin

Are we having a 5 minute argument?

No.

Oh i see.

A 10 minute argument is it?

Or do you prefer insults?

You are a TV poster after all, i am here only by accident.

Europe is lagging behind, but the inevitable will happen there too.

Conservative governments that DO cut social benefits and PROMISE tax cuts.

Time to show our teeth! (wink wink nodge nodge, now we are back on topic)

Are we having a 5 minute argument?

Mr Monty Python.

OK.

I am so happy to be a european taxpayer - with a nearly free national health care system.

Covers me (and my thai wife !) in thailand too.

"The reason eggs have become more nutritious over the past decade is that hens are no longer fed bone meal, which was banned in the Nineties following the BSE crisis, the researchers claim. Instead the birds are normally given a mixture of wheat, corn and high-protein formulated feed, which makes their eggs more wholesome".

Hmm I wonder if my 10 for 30 Baht lady is adhering to this?

If you worry about that, you should become a vegetarian, and buy an eggplant.

Who said that Mark did not modernise Thailand?

Soon they will be ready to join the EU.

Of course, thai eggs will have to be standardised first, can't have more / less eggs to the kilo.

But could apply for an exemption, and sell them by the pound.

Only temporarily of course.

Unless Lithuania uses it's veto.