TigerandDog

"Drivers are told to drive not over 90 kilometres an hour and in case of van, passengers must fasten seat belts, and must comply with traffic law strictly."

So does this mean that in 40km / hr, 60km / hr and 80km / hr speed zones that it's ok for all ministry motor vehicles to drive at 90 km / hr. Hell will freeze over before speed limits of any description are properly enforced in Thailand.

Also which passengers MUST fasten seatbelts. If you're in the back seat you don't have to, and even if you did, a hell of a lot of vehicles don't have seatbelts fitted in the back seats. I haven't been in a van yet that has seat belts fitted for the rear seats. I thought Buddhists had this great respect for life. On the roads here, all I see is the exact opposite.

If you have already made a report and have a receipt only your passport should be needed.

If it is your first report I suggest you complete a TM47 form to save time when you get there in case they want one. http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/pdf/tm47.pdf

You should consider doing your report at one of the offices at Imperial World Lad Phrao or Major Hollywood Suksawat. Reports of people doing them in 10 minutes or less at both those offices verses hours at Chaeng Wattana. They are open 10:30 to 18:30.

If you live in BKK you CANNOT do your 90 day report at Lat Phrao, it MUST be at Chaeng Wattana if you go in person or have a Thai do it for you. Since 1 April you have been able to do your 90 report ONLINE. There is a link on the Thai Immigration web site for this.

It was fun in the big village up in Chaiyaphum....street party.

But in Bangkok it's dreadful as one cannot walk out without the morons drenching you with water!

Could be going to dinner or something special!

Many expats go away for the week.

Why thousands actually come here for it just shows there are lots of Dumbos around!

You're the Dumbo and moron. The whole purpose of Songkran is getting wet. I had my first Songkran in Pattaya 2 years ago and it was 7 days of being a kid again, getting wet and wetting others (with the exception of the obnoxious Russians who just assaulted anyone that wet them). I'm no expert in Thai culture, but I am of the understanding that the Thai New Year water festival is about washing away the old and starting anew. Bring on the super soakers. It is also my understanding that the soaking stops at sundown. This was definitely the case in Pattaya. Anybody still using water pistols after sundown was usually a farang, and once they were told the tradition was no water after sundown they were all ok. So stop being an old fuddy duddy English 1 and enjoy life while you can. What would you have done as an 18 year if you were here for Songkran, you would have been right in the thick of it squirting as many people as possible and having a ball. So stop being an old fart and LIVE your life to the fullest, or are you so old that you're almost dead. Sure sounds like it.

"The Moral Promotion Center has laid out “7 Values” that they’re encouraging the public to adhere to. Following these values will help attendees enjoy the festivities safely.

1. Show Discipline: Follow the law. Obey traffic laws and drive within the speed limit. Stand in line when waiting for public transportation.

2. Be Kind: Show kindness and compassion to others by lending a hand and offering support.

3. Be Patient: Tolerate anger from individuals who are drunk to avoid unnecessary disputes. Avoid gambling.

4. Be Responsible: Know your duties in society to safeguard the safety of others.

5. Be Giving: Share and give to others. Be helpful to others.

6. Exercise Caution: Be cautious in everything that you do. Avoid doing anything that would bring harm to you or others.

7. Consciousness: Know the consequences of your actions; not drinking and driving. "

What a flamin joke these are:

1. Obey traffic laws and drive within the speed limit. - WHAT TRAFFIC LAWS, There aren't any, and as for drive within the speed limits WHY INSIST ON THIS NOW when for the rest of the year it's a full speed ahead grand prix race, and as for motorbikes, they would make excellent kamikaze pilots because all they are interested in is themselves. They have no consideration for other road users.

3. Tolerate anger from those who are drunk. HOW CAN THEY GET DRUNK IF IT'S ALCOHOL FREE ZONES?

As far as dress being the cause of rapes, what a lot of BS. This culture minister seems to know very little about her own culture and the way women dressed. If she is such a prude why was Bang Rajun allowed to be shown on tv with bare breasted women. The boobs weren't even pixelated out. yet further instances of hypocrisy can be seen regularly on Channel V in video clips where female dancers butts and bikini or bra covered boobs are pixelated out. PERHAPS THIS MINISTER IS A MUSLIM. That might account for these ridiculous dress codes she is trying to impose.

There have been many posts about obnoxious, arrogant Russian Tourists in Thaivisa. Let me add Chinese tourists to that list. Apart from the recent headlines already made by Chinese tourists, I have to ask myself what benefit do they have to Thailand. Apart from contributing to the Thai economy, absolutely nothing, and here are some examples of why they also fall into the category of obnoxious and arrogant.

1. On Friday I was at the Grand Palace, and several groups (about 5 or 6 groups of around 20 people per group) of Chinese tourists were sheltering from the sun. During that time they had someone from their groups go and purchase some cold water. No problem so far. However, when they all finished their water, did they walk the 10 paces to the rubbish bin to dispose of their empty bottles, NO. They just dropped them on the ground where they stood. Only for the fact that a nearby police officer witnessed their actions, and he heard me telling them to put their rubbish in the bin (many of them spoke excellent English), he came over and talked to the 6 group leaders (in almost perfect English) and advised them that unless the bottles were picked up and put in the bin immediately. every tourist in the 6 groups would receive a 2000 baht fine. You've never seen so many people move so quickly to clean up their mess to avoid the fines.

2. Inside the grounds of the Grand Palace, Chinese tourist groups would prevent people from walking past so they could have someone take uninterrupted group photos from a distance of around 10 - 15 feet away. Did they reciprocate when other tourists wanted to take their pictures, NO, they just kept walking in front of people trying to take their photos. Like the Russians they are extremely selfish tourists. They don't give a damn about being courteous to other tourists, even when those other tourists have already been courteous towards them.

3. On footpaths, as a group they spread out and take up the whole footpath and will not let people coming towards them have room to pass without having to step onto the road. They also just come to a dead stop and obstruct the whole footpath, and it doesn't matter which direction everybody is walking, the only way to get past them is again to walk on the road and take a chance and hope you don't get run over by a taxi, motor bike or tuk tuk.

4. Also inside the grounds of the Grand Palace, several of the men in the Chinese tourists groups objected to, and argued with Thai officials, about not being able to wear shorts above the knee and having to wear the long pants provided and to also cover up their tattoos.

In fact, the Chinese tourists, like the Russians, need to research the Thai customs and laws before visiting, and they should respect this country's customs when they are here. If they are not prepared to do that then they should stay at home.

I thought a usga hcp was calculated from last 20 scores, take best 10 and multiply by 0,96. not best 8 and multiply by 0.93.

It used to be best 10. But it was best 10 scores played to ( 10 best handicap played to results { course with slope rating of 113, par 72, course rating 72. You shoot 85 scratch playing off a handicap of 12. On the day you have played to a 13}). So out of your last 20 cards, average those 10 best played to scores and then multiply by .96. This was revised, if memory serves me correctly around July 2013, to take the best 8 played to scores, average those 8 scores and then multiply by .93

Forget about golf societies and their BOGUS inaccurate handicap systems. If you want to have an OFFICIAL handicap recognised worldwide ( CONGU and other systems used by golf societies are not recognised worldwide), and based on the USGA handicap system, now used universally by national golf associations, then go to the Thailand golf association web site, change the language to English and select handicap membership. All the information you need to join is there. You don't have to worry about course or slope ratings as they are built into the TGA web site. Once you are a member you just login and input your scores for the course you played, the tees you played from and the name of your marker. TGA review handicaps towards the end of each month. An example of CONGU handicaps etc not being recognised is, say you want to play in Phuket golf week or Pattaya week of golf etc. To enter you must have an OFFICIAL handicap and be able to provide proof of that. Golf society handicaps are not accepted at these amateur tournaments. Enjoy your golf.

Again I stand corrected and very pleased to be enlightened. However, I am a member of two golf clubs in Thailand and BOTH use HandicapMaster and CONGU. My handicap from these has been accepted anywhere I have played in the world. That said, I am interested to find out more with regards to the information you have provided, so I will certainly check it out. Thanks.

Mikosan, your CONGU and Handicapmaster handicaps might be accepted by other golf societies or social golf clubs in the world, and at other Thai golf courses, but if you were to play in an event played strictly under the rules of golf (e.g. Centara Masters at Hua Hin), they most certainly would not be. Also be aware that every golf club in Thailand is a separate entity and they all use a variety of handicap systems, and most do not take into account course or slope rating. Unlike golf clubs in the majority of countries, Thai golf clubs have no affiliation with the National Association here. The only way to have an OFFICIAL golf handicap in Thailand is for individuals to become handicap members of the TGA. Personally I think it's ludicrous, because it's wide open to falsified cards being input to the system so handicaps can be easily manipulated. I also think that those golf clubs that do have memberships are not doing the right thing by their members by not conducting weekly member competitions. After all that's why we join a golf club, for the competition under the rules of golf every Saturday & Sunday, not just to save a few baht on green fees during the week. All golf clubs with members in the UK, Europe, USA, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, South America and elsewhere are ALL affiliated with their national golf associations, and all club competitions are played strictly under the rules of golf and they ALL use the USGA handicap system, which is the most accurate system available. In all these cases, the clubs submit players scores to the National Association by uploading a file over the internet and handicaps are automatically adjusted daily. The whole purpose of using the USGA system is that to maintain a certain handicap you have to be consistent. The USGA system takes into account the national associations course rating, the clubs daily course rating, and also looks at the 5 nearest courses to the course you played. By doing this weather conditions for the day are then able to be taken into account as well. You're most likely wondering how the hell I know all this? In my previous country (Thailand is now home) I was a member of my national Association, as well as being a former match committee member, club captain & club president & an accredited R & A Golf Rules Official. These were items that in these positions that were dealt with on a daily basis. Just by way of information, it would be quite simple to start up member competitions at golf clubs in Thailand. All the members would have to do is firstly agree that they would like weekly comps, elect a President, Club Captain and Match Committee. The President and captain would approach club management to have certain times blocked out on the booking sheets each Sat & Sun. Each member would be registered with the TGA, the Match Committee would decide what event to play, stroke, stableford etc and at the completion of the day, the club captain would input ALL the scores to the TGA. Official handicaps in place, no need for CONGU or any other inaccurate handicap system anymore.

TigerandDog being pedantic UK uses the Congu system not the USGA. I doubt anyone with an official CONGU handicap would have a problem having that accepted most places..........

"Patttaya week of golf" - I have never been asked for a handicap at any course in and around Pattaya or Hua Hin ever.

And I would also disagree that people join a club to have a club competition every weekend. Two friends (both single handicaps) who taught me to play at their club (members since teenagers) hated (probably a bit strong) the fact that there was a competition every weekend.

But hey horses for courses and different strokes for different folks. I completely agree about playing to the official rules of golf but at the end of the day for many of us it is also about having a good time.

The UK & Ireland are the only 2 countries that still use the CONGU system. Every other National Golf Association in the world uses the USGA Handicap System. Have you actually played in official competitions/tournaments under the rules of golf in Pattaya or Hua Hin? I doubt it because CONGU is NOT recognised for official tournaments or competitions any more. It has not been accepted outside of the UK and Ireland for almost 5 years now. I know of several English players whom I met in Thailand, who came to Australia to play in some sanctioned tournaments there. They had OFFICIAL CONGU handicaps, and they were all told by the Tournament Officials that CONGU was no longer an accepted national handicap system outside of the countries it is used. Therefore as they did not have official handicaps accepted outside of the UK & Ireland they were not allowed to compete and their entry fees were refunded. The USGA handicap system is now the standard system used by National Golf Associations. I know for a fact that if you were to try and play in any club competition or sanctioned golf association tournament in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, etc, CONGU is NO LONGER accepted as being an OFFICIAL handicap. All that aside, the USGA system is the most accurate and it rewards consistency, not once in a lifetime scores. If you have a certain handicap and you want to maintain your handicap at that level or improve, then the only way to do that under the USGA system is to consistently play to that handicap or to consistently shoot lower scores to improve.

Here, my vices cost me $7 per day.

Back home, $40.

Here, I can live ok off the rent of my house back home.

There, I'd have to work.

Back "home", Wifey gets homesick, and no way to make gaeng som fish stomach curry.

Here, she gets NZ-longings but there's fish stomach curry just around the corner to compensate.

No brainer.

Have to agree wholeheartedly. No way known could I live on the Age Pension in Oz. It wouldn't even cover the weekly rent, let alone anything else. Moved her last September, and it's the best decision I've ever made. No ex to annoy me, no petty bi***ing family members to make life miserable. I have a fantastic Thai lady as my fiancé. I've been accepted by her family. Basically I'm as happy as a pig in mud, for the first time in my life. LOVE THIS COUNTRY despite all it's flaws. It still leaves Oz for dead.

Forget about golf societies and their BOGUS inaccurate handicap systems. If you want to have an OFFICIAL handicap recognised worldwide ( CONGU and other systems used by golf societies are not recognised worldwide), and based on the USGA handicap system, now used universally by national golf associations, then go to the Thailand golf association web site, change the language to English and select handicap membership. All the information you need to join is there. You don't have to worry about course or slope ratings as they are built into the TGA web site. Once you are a member you just login and input your scores for the course you played, the tees you played from and the name of your marker. TGA review handicaps towards the end of each month. An example of CONGU handicaps etc not being recognised is, say you want to play in Phuket golf week or Pattaya week of golf etc. To enter you must have an OFFICIAL handicap and be able to provide proof of that. Golf society handicaps are not accepted at these amateur tournaments. Enjoy your golf.

Again I stand corrected and very pleased to be enlightened. However, I am a member of two golf clubs in Thailand and BOTH use HandicapMaster and CONGU. My handicap from these has been accepted anywhere I have played in the world. That said, I am interested to find out more with regards to the information you have provided, so I will certainly check it out. Thanks.

Mikosan, your CONGU and Handicapmaster handicaps might be accepted by other golf societies or social golf clubs in the world, and at other Thai golf courses, but if you were to play in an event played strictly under the rules of golf (e.g. Centara Masters at Hua Hin), they most certainly would not be. Also be aware that every golf club in Thailand is a separate entity and they all use a variety of handicap systems, and most do not take into account course or slope rating. Unlike golf clubs in the majority of countries, Thai golf clubs have no affiliation with the National Association here. The only way to have an OFFICIAL golf handicap in Thailand is for individuals to become handicap members of the TGA. Personally I think it's ludicrous, because it's wide open to falsified cards being input to the system so handicaps can be easily manipulated. I also think that those golf clubs that do have memberships are not doing the right thing by their members by not conducting weekly member competitions. After all that's why we join a golf club, for the competition under the rules of golf every Saturday & Sunday, not just to save a few baht on green fees during the week. All golf clubs with members in the UK, Europe, USA, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, South America and elsewhere are ALL affiliated with their national golf associations, and all club competitions are played strictly under the rules of golf and they ALL use the USGA handicap system, which is the most accurate system available. In all these cases, the clubs submit players scores to the National Association by uploading a file over the internet and handicaps are automatically adjusted daily. The whole purpose of using the USGA system is that to maintain a certain handicap you have to be consistent. The USGA system takes into account the national associations course rating, the clubs daily course rating, and also looks at the 5 nearest courses to the course you played. By doing this weather conditions for the day are then able to be taken into account as well. You're most likely wondering how the hell I know all this? In my previous country (Thailand is now home) I was a member of my national Association, as well as being a former match committee member, club captain & club president & an accredited R & A Golf Rules Official. These were items that in these positions that were dealt with on a daily basis. Just by way of information, it would be quite simple to start up member competitions at golf clubs in Thailand. All the members would have to do is firstly agree that they would like weekly comps, elect a President, Club Captain and Match Committee. The President and captain would approach club management to have certain times blocked out on the booking sheets each Sat & Sun. Each member would be registered with the TGA, the Match Committee would decide what event to play, stroke, stableford etc and at the completion of the day, the club captain would input ALL the scores to the TGA. Official handicaps in place, no need for CONGU or any other inaccurate handicap system anymore.

Thank you for your very informative reply. Where I live in Thailand one of the clubs to which I belong holds members competitions all the year around on a Thursday and also on a Tuesday in the high season. We play by the rules of golf as set down by the R&A and USGA and all scores are recorded on HandicapMaster and displayed for members via MasterScoreboard. Unfortunately and much to my disgust, the course rating remains SSS 72, CSS 72, Par 72, day in day out, week in week out, month in month out, which is ridiculous and I don't believe this gives a fair reflection of how the course plays and therefore handicaps are not correctly maintained. I have tried to persuade the committee to at least calculate the CSS using an average of the top third nett scores, which would more accurately reflect how the course was playing on an individual day, but to no avail. However, two societies that I also belong to do use this system and I update handicaps from 'Away' competition scores for all three entities. I appreciate it's not ideal, but it's the best we can do in the circumstances I believe and better than doing nothing. I fully appreciate how the system works in the UK and Australia, having lived and played in both places, but sometimes you have to make the best of a bad job and I believe we do better than many, if not most, other golf courses or societies in Thailand. However, back to the main subject, so how does one get a true handicap in Thailand, if the system is how it and if your suggestion of joining the TGA is so open to falsification? I've played here in competitions with people with 'official' handicaps, particularly Thais, that are so obviously incorrect, so maybe the system we use more accurately records players handicaps. Certainly, with me updating all players handicaps on the HandicapMaster system, rather than them doing it themselves on TGA, is less open to falsification and whilst players may not end up with an 'official' handicap, it's a handicap that is a fair reflection of how they are playing. It's a time consuming job though!

As I said the big problem with the way TGA allows scores to be input is wide open for falsification. I'd be interested to know which clubs you play club comps at each week. The upside of the USGA system is that it rewards consistency. So if you have a handicap of say 12.3, you need to consistently be returning scores around that mark to maintain that handicap, or lower to improve it.. The USGA system only looks at your last 20 submitted cards, selects the best 8 scores played to (based on Course and Slope rating), averages those played to scores and multiplies the average by .93. The resulting handicap is your official handicap and it is based on a slope rating of 113 ( 113 is considered to be the average slope rating). If you play at a course with a slope rating of say 135 for the white tees, your handicap for the day would be 12.3 x 135 / 113 = 14.9. You would play off 15 at that course for the day. Also bear in mind that slope ratings can be higher or lower for a course depending on the tees you hit from. Also, the only time a Course rating should change is if preferred lies are being played. As for taking weather conditions into account, that's why if the handicap system is set up correctly, it looks at the 5 nearest golf courses to ascertain how the scoring was at those courses. Strong winds and rain in the immediate area would affect all 5 courses and the handicap programme would automatically take all this information into account.

As for stopping the falsification of scores input to the TGA web site, there is only ONE way to do that, and that would require golf clubs to allow their members to run competitions, and the match committee (elected by the members)would be responsible for submitting the scores to the TGA. This is how it's done just about everywhere else in the world.

Attached for your information find a spreadsheet of my handicap record. The scores returned shaded in yellow are my 8 best played to rounds. The rest should be self explanatory. Most of the courses I play in BKK have a Slope rating of 113, but they have varying course ratings. All are par 72, but the Thai Army & Air force courses have course ratings between 69.9 and 70.9. e.g. if I played a course with a course rating of 69.9 and shot 90 I will have played to a handicap of 20.1. Not sure how the formula works on courses with a slope rating higher than 113. The round I played to 14.4 in the spreadsheet was on a course with a slope rating of 145.

There are plenty of options available online. The best being World Nomads. Just start the policy from the day after you apply and put your true return to Thailand date. Also make sure you are a Thai resident and your destination is Australia. I did this 2 years ago for my fiancé when she visited OZ and there were no problems.

Forget about golf societies and their BOGUS inaccurate handicap systems. If you want to have an OFFICIAL handicap recognised worldwide ( CONGU and other systems used by golf societies are not recognised worldwide), and based on the USGA handicap system, now used universally by national golf associations, then go to the Thailand golf association web site, change the language to English and select handicap membership. All the information you need to join is there. You don't have to worry about course or slope ratings as they are built into the TGA web site. Once you are a member you just login and input your scores for the course you played, the tees you played from and the name of your marker. TGA review handicaps towards the end of each month. An example of CONGU handicaps etc not being recognised is, say you want to play in Phuket golf week or Pattaya week of golf etc. To enter you must have an OFFICIAL handicap and be able to provide proof of that. Golf society handicaps are not accepted at these amateur tournaments. Enjoy your golf.

Again I stand corrected and very pleased to be enlightened. However, I am a member of two golf clubs in Thailand and BOTH use HandicapMaster and CONGU. My handicap from these has been accepted anywhere I have played in the world. That said, I am interested to find out more with regards to the information you have provided, so I will certainly check it out. Thanks.

Mikosan, your CONGU and Handicapmaster handicaps might be accepted by other golf societies or social golf clubs in the world, and at other Thai golf courses, but if you were to play in an event played strictly under the rules of golf (e.g. Centara Masters at Hua Hin), they most certainly would not be. Also be aware that every golf club in Thailand is a separate entity and they all use a variety of handicap systems, and most do not take into account course or slope rating. Unlike golf clubs in the majority of countries, Thai golf clubs have no affiliation with the National Association here. The only way to have an OFFICIAL golf handicap in Thailand is for individuals to become handicap members of the TGA. Personally I think it's ludicrous, because it's wide open to falsified cards being input to the system so handicaps can be easily manipulated. I also think that those golf clubs that do have memberships are not doing the right thing by their members by not conducting weekly member competitions. After all that's why we join a golf club, for the competition under the rules of golf every Saturday & Sunday, not just to save a few baht on green fees during the week. All golf clubs with members in the UK, Europe, USA, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, South America and elsewhere are ALL affiliated with their national golf associations, and all club competitions are played strictly under the rules of golf and they ALL use the USGA handicap system, which is the most accurate system available. In all these cases, the clubs submit players scores to the National Association by uploading a file over the internet and handicaps are automatically adjusted daily. The whole purpose of using the USGA system is that to maintain a certain handicap you have to be consistent. The USGA system takes into account the national associations course rating, the clubs daily course rating, and also looks at the 5 nearest courses to the course you played. By doing this weather conditions for the day are then able to be taken into account as well. You're most likely wondering how the hell I know all this? In my previous country (Thailand is now home) I was a member of my national Association, as well as being a former match committee member, club captain & club president & an accredited R & A Golf Rules Official. These were items that in these positions that were dealt with on a daily basis. Just by way of information, it would be quite simple to start up member competitions at golf clubs in Thailand. All the members would have to do is firstly agree that they would like weekly comps, elect a President, Club Captain and Match Committee. The President and captain would approach club management to have certain times blocked out on the booking sheets each Sat & Sun. Each member would be registered with the TGA, the Match Committee would decide what event to play, stroke, stableford etc and at the completion of the day, the club captain would input ALL the scores to the TGA. Official handicaps in place, no need for CONGU or any other inaccurate handicap system anymore.

"Don't stress too much about slope ratings, a lot of courses don't have them in Thailand. " Mikosan, you could not be more wrong. Of the 200 plus courses in Thailand, all but about a dozen have been given course and slope rating by the Thailand Golf Association, and those that don't yet have one, will have one by the end of this year.

Forget about golf societies and their BOGUS inaccurate handicap systems. If you want to have an OFFICIAL handicap recognised worldwide ( CONGU and other systems used by golf societies are not recognised worldwide), and based on the USGA handicap system, now used universally by national golf associations, then go to the Thailand golf association web site, change the language to English and select handicap membership. All the information you need to join is there. You don't have to worry about course or slope ratings as they are built into the TGA web site. Once you are a member you just login and input your scores for the course you played, the tees you played from and the name of your marker. TGA review handicaps towards the end of each month. An example of CONGU handicaps etc not being recognised is, say you want to play in Phuket golf week or Pattaya week of golf etc. To enter you must have an OFFICIAL handicap and be able to provide proof of that. Golf society handicaps are not accepted at these amateur tournaments. Enjoy your golf.

I'm in the market for a new small car and will be going to the motor show. However, I can't understand how cars manufactured in Thailand are between 90000 - 160000 baht more expensive than the exact same car in Australia, and in Oz the cost is drive away cost, here it is not, which makes the car even more expensive. e.g. Nissan March 1.2 E CVTis 464000 baht + taxes etc. In Oz the same car (but called a Micra) is AUD$13990.00 drive away ( 13990 x 25 baht = 349750 baht) a difference of 114250 baht. A Suzuki Swift GL CVT is 507000 baht + taxes etc here, but in OZ it is AUD$17490.00 drive away (17490 x 25baht = 437250 baht) a difference of 69750 baht. Depending on the type of small caryou buy and the model, these variances can be quite alarming. So why are locally manufactured cars more expensive than cars that are exported and sold in other countries.

Let's give you a real estimate. I've been living in BKK for 6 months and my MONTHLY budget is 50000baht. That covers everything ( rent [1 br 70 sq m apt], water, electricity, food and groceries, my spending money, my girlfriend's spending money, BUPA health insurance and golf once per week), and I usually have a couple of thousand left over to put aside for emergencies when I have quiet weeks with little spending. I guess the fact that I'm a non drinker and don't need to pay for bar girls helps.

their lawyer is an idiot. It's simple, do the crime and if you get caught cop it sweet. I'm an aussie and I don't thionk the Aussie govt should have tried to get them off at all. A recent survey in Australia showed that 52% of those surveyed agreed with the death penalty for drug trafficking. Their dumb lawyer has tried to argue in the press that the survey was unfair as it did not take into consideration whether they had reformed etc. What of of baloney Julian McMahon, they were guilty, and caught red handed in Indonesia (regardless of who tipped who off), and Indonesian law like Thailand and other Asian countries is the death penalty for drug smuggling. These guys should think themselves lucky they weren't executed way back when they were caught. The reality is they should have been well and truly 6 feet under by now.

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Secondly, bull sharks are more dangerous than great whites or tiger sharks. They have the highest testosterone levels of any animal, including humans, on this planet, which makes them extremely aggressive. <clip..clip>

Thirdly, they do inhabit these waters. As a scuba diver I have often seem them when on day trip diving expeditions out of Phuket, as well as other diving sites around Thailand.

Finally, bull sharks are responsible for more shark attacks on humans than any other breed of shark, and that's because they can survive in both salt and fresh water, and they regularly migrate along rivers from the sea well past where the salt water ends and the fresh water begins. There have been many documentaries made about this behaviour by bull sharks.