AlphMichaels

7 hours ago, MINIMIGLIA said:

Toyota by a country mile,

Country kilometer.  

On 10/10/2017 at 9:11 PM, thaianon said:

Fifty years ago in Thailand, there weren't many tourists but there were fishermen. The beaches were then mostly pristine. Today there are many tourists and there are fishermen. The beaches are littered to a greater or lesser extent. Who's to blame? The Thais, the tourists, the fishermen or Obama?

My best reply would be "change of times".  The reality; fishermen use different methods and materials than they did 50+ years ago.  Tourists don't come to the beach and throw down oil filters, fish food bags, or M150 bottles.  I've lived on a beach 2+ years now and near pretty large artisanal fishing community.  There is a period of 6-8 months where tourism here is next to nil but the trash washes up.  You can sit on the beach and watch it float in on occasion.  I can see it floating in from my condo @ 23 floors.  I can point to nearly every trash item I see on my daily 5K beach walks and assure you it's coming  from the fishermen.  

I can also watch locals come and lay down on government areas of beach because they don't want to pay for chairs/tables.  A relatively high percentage pack up and leave trash as if someone will come pick it up. 

Guess who picks it up?  Farang because they care about Thai beaches more than the Thais care.  Styrofoam, plastic bags, soda bottles, Sangsom/Hong Tong bottles..., trust me..., in large measure, and too many to believe, don't practice any form of pick-up-after-yourself and be kind to the environment.  

Fine aggressively and regularly.  500-2,000THB per incident will spin the gossip wheel and change bad habits because it hits their wallets/purses.    

Blaming Obama is a clear reflection of I.Q. and so off topic I'm surprised I'm hitting send.  Outstanding.  I shall.   

Can't make this sh%!* up.  I could all but eliminate trash on my beach by aggressively ticketing local fishermen with fines that hit hard and make them think.  They are the #1 litterers impacting area beaches.  I find (of course) the feed bags,  oil filters, plastic bottles filled with urine (<deleted> outstanding!), food bags, insulin vials and, of course, styrofoam (polystyrene)..., which takes 500 years or more to degrade versus a cigarette butt @ 18 months to 10 years.    

I.D.I.O.T.S.

Find a driver with a good car and do it right.  Price-value is worth every baht.  From Pattaya or Rayong you'll probably be looking at 3-4K THB each way but you are in control. If driver is driving like a maniac you can tell him to stop (and he will) and you can stop when you want..., where you want.

300THB on a bus that smells like a latrine...,

400THB Not "VIP" mini-bus..., Buriram driver (full-on scary)

Every time..., free is worth exactly what you pay for it. 

This is easily one of the funniest new feeds ever.  Nothing happened of consequence and nothing will.  Trump and Prayut..., a divine comedy.    

On 9/28/2017 at 5:17 PM, AGareth2 said:

you need a vascular surgeon

there are a few

Interventional cardiology is rapidly taking hold in minimally invasive procedures.  Big biomed companies are aligning with them more and more but good to know there is a path in a country where medical professionals must be well vetted.      

Update - just returned from bank, Tesco and fresh market.  White knuckles subsiding I remember these events:

2 old women barely able to keep bicycles in forward motion riding on wrong side of Soi

1 motor taxi weaving through traffic on a high pedestrian soi where, of course, badly parked cars are as much a hazard as those driving.

A salang being driven by "mom" who turned directly in front of an oncoming pick up truck at speed.  And with 3 kids in school uniforms as passengers.  

And the best part..., I get stopped THREE times by 3 different police officers at the SAME intersection..., because the Baht lights go on before they realize I've been by before.  The good news..., only 1 asked to see my DL.

It will never change.  

5 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

PAD

should have had an operation

Often, with both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (including PAD/PVD), surgery is a risky option, especially in older patient populations.   There are only a handful of good interventional cardiologists in Thailand who will even risk stenting or angioplasty at or below the femoral artery.

Sad when one gives up as he did but losing your mobility and becoming dependent on others can be a deeply depressing life event.       

Another one for my growing list of brainiac moves.     

But one of the scores of reasons to never be a farang bar owner in Thailand.  Kem & manow w/that shot please. 

These parasites come & go in TH.  Easy to profile & take an exit @ first indication of attempt to extort.  But as the old saying goes, "there's a mark born every minute and one to trim em and one to knock em".  

When they figure out fact they can't hire qualified technical aviation maintenance professionals from "in country" talent and @ Thai wage levels...,      

Amazing idea.  They are so good.   Well thought out before announcing.  

18 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

It's mostly grammar that English natives could not pass so they have a point, you can read and speak English very well and still fail this test

One need only visit TVF once a week to see an alarming number of native English speakers who apparently slept through elementary English in school.  Like calling the kettle black to slam these teachers even though I do not agree with the proposition presented.  

I'd submit the request be denied with prejudice.   Deliver compensatory reward for success.  If that's not a motivation, no other will successfully supplant it.

A bonus!! In fact, I doubt he accidentally deserved a steamed cockroach with his food.  But I love the idea of seeing those little antennae moving about randomly as I lift the bamboo lid and stare into his eyes.  

Be he a soul reviled & labeled perpetrator of an act steeped in the inanity of dogma... or simply (more likely) a young guy not paying attention.., R.I.P.   28 years young is TOO young.   

If hackers ever target here specifically it'll be ugly.  Went to get pics for upcoming visa renewal yesterday and saw a Win95 box.  <snort>

A few savvy entrepreneurs are already setting up shop selling the high rail fixtures (seeing more & more), even full-on caps because if/when they go beyond selectively enforcing, it's going to be a booming (cash) business.

Hey, that's profiling!!!    

No.  You can't fix stupid.

Never take pics inside a bar in Thailand.  A well-known fact.  If the owner/manager says "OK", you're fine.  If you don't ask, you could be in trouble.  If you don't know and you're a first-timer, you didn't do your research before coming which seems to be the case all too often in recent years.   

Will a day ever come when the canned excuse "brake failure" is either inadmissible or tied directly to vehicle maintenance (lack thereof) and/or driver error??  Hasn't happened yet and guessing it may never but It's time..., past time..., to remove this excuse in any highway accident investigation.   Statements made must be investigated and corroborated.

6 hours ago, whatawonderfulday said:

Now let me guess,  they found him not there as he must have climbed over the wall just before they all got there ? Bet they don't disclose if they find the stash of millions of baht and drugs though !

Maybe he tunneled out?  Like they do on US-Mexico border - because there's a wall.  LOL!