CheGuava

if it costs the same as a Civic it just does not make sense.

Heh, when I came here, Internet was only for the military and universities. Very little in or about Thailand.

Don't assume everyone is a newbie.

Would be interested in a Roman Catholic mass for Christmas. Which is the best Catholic church in the Pattaya area? (Needs to be English mass)

I have a separate question as well: Strictly speaking it wouldn't be allowed for someone who is not a baptised catholic to do communion. My own personal belief is that JC himself did not require this himself when breaking the bread, so I've always encouraged any lady friend to join me in communion. But I'm not sure if this is truly frowned upon?

Oh oh..

Here we go with a big list of things that show someone is Thai.. Few of them pretty I suspect..

how are you going to celebrate it this year? go-go bar again ;-) ? or going to buy a christmas tree and invite friends to party at home?

Why can't it be both?

Except I'm not going to pay for it. Existing tree in garden will get proper Christmas attention. And Existing Mrs. at home will also get proper Christmas attention.

Immigration sounds like a mess- I'm glad I don't have to show up anymore

How do you make the once a year application. Can some one else do that for you also?

I presume it is a retirement visa you have.

Residency. Then you don't have to jump through the hoops that temporary visitors do.

As for the queues at Immigration: I guess this tells you a little bit about how much truth there is in posts claiming that 'everyone is leaving'.

At what age can you start feeding kids Xanax? (Say 0.25mg) You'd try it a week before first of course.

I hate to have to tell you, but I drove back down this road today, Monday 13 December, and its still in pretty bad shape

That's good information!! Just yesterday Mrs Millwall_fan suggested we try that road again as it's a good route to Junior's school. We'll keep avoiding it for the moment!!

The road along the railway may be a better road to Junior's school. Even when the Pa Daed road is completed.

Awww come ON..

* There are signs on both sides that road work is taking place, advising people to take a different road.

* It's just a bit rough, but very driveable. I don't take the road primarily because of the dust; don't want to wash the Benz every day.

Between us, it's amazing how SLOW people drive currently. With a proper car you can easily still do 60 in comfort. But the overtaking of Mr and Mrs. Slow is a challenge.

LOL.. I love posts like this.

Any response can be summarized as: "Welcome to Thailand!".

You will likely have figured out by now that the only place where a pram is remotely useful is in shopping malls. Try taking it down a side walk somewhere. Anywhere.

And indeed we just take out the kid, hold him on escalators and whatever else the obstacle course that is Thailand throws our way, and then put him back in when we're on level soil. Which is usually our own driveway.

And don't get me started on Amway.

Uh huh

But don't get me started on the evil that is non reusable water bottles.

Plastic bottles are recycled. At least ours are.

Ehm.. Buy a camera and take a picture?

you CANNOT work under any circumstances unless you have a work permit from the ministry of Interior.

From the provincial labour department office. Which your employer would apply for.

Don't worry about it for now. If your income originates outside of Thailand then you have very little to worry about, other than regular visas (Ed or Tourist)

3. Get Ed Visa in C.Mai

You cannot get visas in Chiang Mai (or within Thailand). You need to apply at a Thai Embassy. Those are located outside of Thailand. You will need a letter from the school or institute providing the education. (Can be a very basic letter that states your name, the course, and the time period. You can write it yourself and have the institute sign it.). With that you can get a Non-Immigrant O visa for Education. Try for a multiple entry (double, triple). In practise a Non Immigrant visa may provide only limited benefits over a tourist visa. (Especially since the latter are currently free)

Seashells.

(As long as we're blurting out daft suggestions, I figured I'd join.)

Envelopes with money are most definitely the way to go for things like weddings and funerals.

However I would personally never try to monetise an expression of gratitude. That's just daft. Also in Thailand.

The fruit basket really is the best idea.

It really is a good example of how a tourism facility can be run when the management know what they are doing

...and when, as a memeber of the government, you had the opportunity to get all the funds and plants in place, so much so that you don't mind losing money on the whole thing.

But yes, I like the place too.

Queen Sirikit gardens seem to be improving as well. And were free to enter last weekend.

rimping has a few different kinds and i am sure kasem does too

I get mine at Rimping by the river. They have it in grinder bottles.

Kaasem has it but it is not in a container when I looked.

Yup. And Makro also have it.

Christmas?

If I can arrange some holidays around it then I'll probably visit Pattaya. Best place in the world for Christmas.

I see alcohol and tobacco being mentioned a lot. So given that these drugs are legal, the actual request seems to be to add other drugs to the set of legal drugs. Legal drugs currently also include prescription anti-depressants.

So we already have legal drugs, but some people want to add to this set. Question: Is there a limit to which drugs should be added? Should meth be added to the legal set? Should absolutley everything be added? Or all you all happy with just a couple, say cannabis, heroine, cocaine?

I get the feeling that some of you may not have been around during Thaksin's drug war. The implementation was brutal and horrific, however it did actually work very, VERY well. What happened was that the price of meth increased enormously, to the point where not every truck driver or bar girl could easily afford a bag full of the stuff. Did it completely eradicate drugs: of course not. Was it highly effective: absolutely; that's why people say they want it back.

The difference was clearly noticable, at least to me. Prior to the drugs war, bar girls for starters were super slim, and you didn't actually need to feed them because they were never hungry and would stay awake all night. That was the positive side. The negative side were of course the physical and mental effects. Then when Thaksin's war on drugs kicked in there were some very noticeable changes.

I think the war on drugs hurt nightlife and our enjoyment of it, as did several other Thaksin policies from which 'Sanuk' in Thailand still hasn't recovered. They were however very successful so I can understand people when they say they want tough action.

Sounds like a temple's official name, which people rarely use. Would try to find out the local name.

And 90 kms is way beyond Hang Dong district of course, though there is a village with the same name near Hod. That's about 90kms.

The simple solution would be to legalize all drugs and make them almost free. That would take away the profits from pushers. Only the stupid would take drugs and eventually kill themselves. That would solve two problems... less stupid people and no pushers. Nobody is going to waste time and energy manufacturing drugs if there is no profit in it. We've already got two terrible drugs that are legal... alcohol and cigarettes.

Thanks, Ian, for trying. That's all that people like you and me can do. I will include the obligatory link to the website where former drug warriors (law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, etc.) make cogent arguments regarding the futility of Drug Prohibition.

LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Many people go through silly phases in life. When my children hit puberty and inevitably go through a stupid phase, I'd prefer it if crack cocaine wasn't available at 7-Eleven for the price of a can of Pepsi. Call me silly.

After all, personally I think that Number One bar looks way too sterile, nothing of a cosy live bar/cafe atmosphere.

It's strictly BYOD: Bring Your Own Dirty mind. When you do, it's okay.

No thanks I prefer the bamboo bars where I get a coke for 15b and 20b for a ladies drink, much more 'real', not too much farangs please you just spoil the market ! In Thailand I do NOT pay 40b for a water, ridiculous.

Interesting you claim it's more real when the issue is that you can't (or don't want) to spend 40 baht. Consider for a moment all the costs for a bar operation, and all the things that need to be in place to get you a seat under your bum and a friendly waitress to serve something to you. The purchase price of water really doesn't matter much.

Does your girlfriend seem very upset about it, or mostly thinks it's weird?

Either way you need to replace the helmet now.

And a work permit would only be issued on a non-immigrant visa.

Yes. However as it is severely unlikely to to even begin the process of applying for a work permit for volunteer work, it actually doesn't matter. Unless you're volunteering for a highly established NGO, perhaps.

Yes there are charities in Chiang Mai and surroundings that could need help. The problem is that they often don't no how to go about getting a work permit.

For all intends and purposes, it doesn't happen. The amount of paperwork is humongous and if this is a small organization that has never done it before, you might as well suggest flying to the moon. If you're working for UNICEF or Plan International however then yes, by all means bring it up.