WilliaminBKK

Toys R Us at Central World had them last year, the plastic & flavoured wax ones, sorry don't know if they have them in stock this year.

Well my job is partly based on bums in seats, so I feel the industry is doing pretty well. There are ups and downs obviously and certain markets are under performing however Thailand does have steady flow of new 1st timers arriving from other Asian destinations. It took Japan 6-8 months to rebound.

What has declined is business for tour operators, travel agents, ground agents. Thailand has matured as the entire industry has over the last 5-10 years because access is so easy to self manage your holiday. There is NO need to book with an agent anymore, airlines are cheaper direct, hotels are moving to "Best Rate Guarantees" in order to cut out the excessive commission & fees they pay, everyone has a credit care and booking is safe. Train schedule sites are up to date, map apps are readily available, language software apps, review sites are in more languages now & people can self book. So you'll hear over and over again from brick and mortar agents it is doom and gloom but in reality their business simply can't compete.

Because of the widespread availability of reviews, social media, youtube the poorer quality properties are not able to maintain rates or occupancy and a new investor/hotel knows they can garner market share simply by being new & adding Egyptian cotton sheets and following the boutique hotel model.

In the old days we needed agents to suggest hotels - www.tripadvisor.com

In the old days we needed agents to book hotels - Agoda, Expedia, Wotif plus over 400 worldwide PLUS DIRECT

In the old days we needed to know about visas - Timatic from Star Alliance

In the old days we needed to book air seats - Kayak & book direct

In the old days we needed to book tours - easily done & taxis are cheap for Westerners

_{Oh i get it chiangmai ,your trying to get lots of posts ,well we all know your a troll , but hey ,i still like pulling your chain ,and as for not being out in the sun ,this is my time on the computer ,early morning ,and evening .}

Spot on.

Every comment gets a response gotta love it, but I`ll be called a flame just watch.

I just want to stay in the Travel forum & Food forum lately, people don`t declare War on the UK over salt use so I guess that`s my personality not in it to argue or debate just share information.

forgot to mention green pepper!

We need to start a thread on German cooking, one of the absolute best meals I ever had was a sauce made with these peppercorns and I think cream ..... on a smoked pork chop in Heidelberg YUM YUM YUM

Do you recall the name of the shoppe ? I love a good bagel.

I also like to keep a few around a few days & then slice them super thin and make bagel chips, easiest thing with a little olive oil & herbs.

http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/2012/01/bagel-chips/

Don't feed The Troll

+ 1

The title of the thread is pejorative and inflammatory, CMK should request that the mods modify it to reflect the topic.

There is no one, and I mean no one, in the UK even remotely contemplating using the word war in connection with any aspect of UK / Thai relations and I object to the use of that word in a title of a thread on the biggest expat website in SE Asia.

As I said, the title is inflammatory and I believe my fellow British members will agree with that.

http://yaleglobal.ya...ent/shrimp-wars

When American wild pink shrimp caught in the ocean are sold for $18.99 a pound while farmed shrimp from Thailand are only sold at $7.99, the market is going to tilt.

War is a normal word when applied to many things beside actual war as demonstrated above. Beer wars, Fish wars. Fast food wars. Lighten up a bit. We are not all dour Scots.

@CMK.... Usually I find your posts intelligent and generally I find myself agreeing with your point of view, but this whole thread is ridiculous: it appears to be some sort of personal attack on the UK, based on some ethereal premise. Worse than that, it is now descending into resorting to personal insults. I've been following the thread, but have felt no compunction to post, for easons already stated. But enough is enough... earlier you reacted when someone queeried whether you were talking about sales or manufacturing, (at leas that referred to your thread title) Now you're introducing shrimps..... The thread, and IMO the OP are losing the plot. Considering some of your earlier responses, your recent comment telling anoth poster to "lighten up a bit" is highly hypocritical.

Perhaps you can point out where I have insulted anyone. I don't see it. A poster said I should not have used the word war. It is a common word to express competition hence the reference to shrimp wars. I have repeated my point a number of times. Thailand makes a lot of cars. This year or next Thailand will make more cars than the UK. That's all I wanted to get across.

Point taking, Thailand will make lots of cars for their owners got it, Thailand will be a hub -wonderful-fantastic-super & the UK is nothing.

We've covered cars, shrimp & currency what's next ? Thailand grows more mangoes than the UK ?

Happens all the time for about 3 months now with Twitter & Pinterest don't know if it is just a system overload but I refresh after a minute & I'm back.

Try to stay positive, the next item you buy you'll be better prepared to deal with these types.

Thinking about avocados, I recall a really nice salad, I haven't had in years.

Avocados & ruby grapefruit with catalina dressing, I'm sure pomelo would be fantastic should complement each other very well.

Catalina Salad Dressing recipe

http://www.food.com/recipe/1960s-catalina-dressing-33561

So this is a UK bash then ?

I prefer to call it a truth searching thread about Thailand and the UK competing for 11th 12th and 13th place internationally for auto sales.

OP you didn't click on the link did you ? ( http://www.dailymail...tal-Europe.html) which clearly shows how well the UK is doing. You're comparing oranges to kumquats.

You started this thread based on manufacturing & now it is sales ?

You don't build cars if they don't sell do you? Your quote would be good if the thread was about auto production UK vs Germany. It's not. This is Thailand, Thai Visa ya?

It is spot on, you want to bash the UK and compare it to Thailand, whilst the article clearly shows the UK is manufacturing more cars than Germany obviously something is going on for car company's to set up shop in the UK. You started the thread based on Thailand building more cars ............stop using wiki is it sales or manufacturing ?

So this is a UK bash then ?

I prefer to call it a truth searching thread about Thailand and the UK competing for 11th 12th and 13th place internationally for auto sales.

OP you didn't click on the link did you ? ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210199/Britain-producing-MORE-cars-Germany-How-UK-car-production-capital-Europe.html) which clearly shows how well the UK is doing. You're comparing oranges to kumquats.

You started this thread based on manufacturing & now it is sales ?

So this is a UK bash then ?

If you're comparing Thailand to the UK you should go one step further and say Thailand will out produce all of Europe.

The UK produces 2.2 million cars per year.....and produces more cars than Germany.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210199/Britain-producing-MORE-cars-Germany-How-UK-car-production-capital-Europe.html

Update.

What a fool I've been missing out on home made sauerkraut all these years. I took Canopy's suggestion and washed the container & then cleaned it once again with vinegar

I followed the instructions, two heads of cabbage salt and pushed in into the plastic bucket I had, put a plate & weight on it accordingly and covered with a tea towel.

1-3 days I added more weight

4-5 days it was totally submerged in it's own liquid

6-10 days I looked daily and no scum at all

Sampled and it was crunchy but not that strong

11-15 days I did get a slight odour but wasn't bad at all

Sampled and it was still crunchy and the same flavour as store bought IMO

17th day I sampled and it seemed just a little mushy and I thought I had gone too long so I placed the batch in bowls in the fridge with smaller plates & weights (I used canned food)

Two days in the fridge and it firmed up & was super crunchy again. I couldn't wait any longer and devoured the entire batch over 2 days........raw was crunchy and full of flavour, cooked was probably the best I've ever had.

Bottom line I love my 21 day batch, I'll do another batch this week and follow the same fermentation process then let it continue in the fridge for up to a month if it lasts that long.

Finally, don't overdose like I did LOL my tummy was singing with growls for a day LOL.

I have no issues at all with helping out & spoiling them silly.

I love my in-laws & respect them beyond - they are an extension of my parents so I am very very fortunate.

My end of life plans I know I'll be dependent on my new family - siblings nieces nephews etc & knowing the good stock they are from I have no worry's at all.

Very sad on many counts, Mr. Stephan seems to have done so much in the past. The birth certificate should suffice or there must be someway of declaring her an abandoned parent, so he can get full custodial rights, what isn't clear is if it is the Embassy that wont issue the child a passport or is it a Thai issue.

Surely the Embassy can pressure the right Thai officials to allow him to return home with his son.

Just as a add on, same apply's to Macau - Thai Smile fly there so you may snag a cheap flight also less expensive than HKG

Australian 90 Day Stay No visa Required

Thai 30 Day Stay No Visa Required

http://www.staralliance.com/en/services/visa-and-health/

Can't comment on spray but I use Borax (powder)

For Ants they are either attracted to sugar or oil so 50/50 borax & peanut butter does the trick, I place little matchbox size containers in the cupboards, under the sinks out of my pets way. I know it kills ants and I believe deters roaches not sure if it kills them.

Villa carried Borax at one time but haven't seen it in a long time, 500 grams will last you a long time.

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/miscellaneous/miscellaneous-goods-for-sale/borax-sodium-borate-for-sale-in-thailand-500-grams-91075.html

Linguine with Avocado and Arugula Pesto

This recipe took me by surprise but it was really good, I think the heat from the pasta help release the avocado oil. I used Thai basil and it added a much deeper flavour with the lime. I'm always weary of garlic not having the kick so I added an entire bulb of roasted garlic.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/linguine-with-avocado-and-arugula-pesto-recipe/index.html

Just as I learnt the name they go ahead and change it, oppppps this is only a motto so do I do both now ?

City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Visvakarman at Indra's behest

As everyone says head to your hotel, don't mess about trying to save 1400 baht. Check in rest, sleep in and wake up ready to enjoy the city.

The advantage arriving at 0100 you'll zoom zoom into the city without any traffic.

The talk is that Etihad will join Star Alliance and Emirates is large enough with enough of its own connections not to need to join an alliance.

I think you'll see it the other way around Emirates in Star Alliance & Etihad with Skyteam (just did huge code share agreement with KLM/AF)

Emirates is doing well but filling an A380 with feeder traffic would certainly be welcomed.