Gsxrnz

You guys don't have a problem. I sat on the back step one day for a leisurely beer and a chat with a visiting friend. Several million ants found their way down my builders crack before I realised what was happening. They weren't the big biters, just the little beasties - but the old saying of "ants in your pants" suddenly took on great meaning.

Solution was to rip everything off in a mad panic and leap into the pool. Mate was very understanding....after he stopped laughing his tits off for what seemed like 20 minutes.

On a serious note, my missus is now fastidious about ants and if she's sees one she'll do a track and trace job to see where they come from and eradicate them. Consequently we rarely have ants inside the house or in the immediate vicinity outside.

The "balcony conspiracy" brigade.

I wonder if the thieves thought to check the safes were actually locked before they tried to cut it open? Stranger things have happened, this being Thailand an' all.

take the safes to a private location and take your time, not hard, same as cash machine's

I installed a safe on the 2nd storey of my house while it was under construction. Looking at the photo above of those 2 safes I guess the size of my safe is similar in width & depth but only a third of the height. It weighs 400KG and because of it's relatively small size even 6 strong men cannot get enough purchase to carry it. To get it on the back of a pick-up truck we had to borrow an engine hoist from the local garage. Then to get it installed at the new place we had to hire a crane to lift it from the driveway to it's new place on the 2nd floor.

It might not be impossible to steal but pretty close to it.

I hope you paid particular attention when the rebar was installed in the part of the ceiling where the safe sits. Might be time to check the location of your favourite armchair?

looks as if a trash barge has sunk or lost its cargo

I'm sure the guy with plastic bags around his belt will have cleaned it up in no time!

Any idea how far offshore the trash barges go to dump their loads?

For your entertainment, I copy below the CATHOLIC blessing for an Airplane as sourced from http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/54-blessings-of-things-designated-for-ordinary-use.html

Seems the Thais are not the only one obsessed with the supernatural.

16. BLESSING OF AN AIRPLANE

(Approved by the Congregation of Sacred Rites, March 24, 1920)

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

God, who made all things for your glory, yet destined every lower being in this world for man's service, we beg you to bless this airplane (these airplanes). Let it (them) serve to carry far and wide the fame and glory of your name, and in expediting more speedily the affairs of mankind without loss and accident. And let it (them) foster in the souls of all the faithful who travel in it (them) a longing for the things above; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.
Let us pray.

God, who by the mystery of the incarnation mercifully consecrated the dwelling-place of the blessed Virgin Mary, and wondrously transferred it to the heart of your Church; we beg you to pour out your blessing on this airplane (these airplanes), so that all who fly in it (them) may, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, happily reach their destination and then safely return home; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.
Let us pray.

God, the salvation of those who trust in you, kindly appoint a good angel from on high as an escort for your servants who make an airplane voyage and who call on you for help. Let him shield the passengers throughout the flight and conduct them safely to their destination; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

It is sprinkled with holy water

Went for a leisurely lunch at Jomtien beach today with my wife. It's never the most picturesque beach in the world but normally up around Soi Rimhaad it's a bit cleaner than the rest.

We were greeted by the gruesome sight of litter being washed up as far as the eye could see in both directions. Asked the umbrella vendor what happened, she didn't seem too concerned and said that the mess ran all the way along the beach, and that she'd heard there was a clean-up crew on the way.

Judging by the volume it would appear to not just the be the usual litter one has come to expect, so something dire has happened. I'd guess the whole lot (mainly plastic based) that I saw as I drove down Beach Road would fill a couple of 20T dump trucks easily.

About an hour later I saw the crew of about a dozen women having a crack at cleaning it up, but more was being swept ashore behind them as they worked their way from north to south. It seemed a bit of a fruitless exercise to me as it was only a half hearted attempt at best. I'd expect the mess to wash up again at the next high tide as there was plenty to be seen further from the beach.

This level of litter is extreme even for Jomtien/Pattaya, but seeing the crazy people actually swimming in it was bizarre.

I'd post pics of the swimmers, but knowing TV I suspect would it would draw attention away from the litter issue. Needless to say they were of Eastern European descent, wearing speedos and undersized (for the acreage) bikinis.

Standard practice in New Zealand to have the Maori bless every new plane purchased by Air New Zealand to scare away the evil spirits. And they ceremonially bless every building, including airports. They will also have exorcisms of public buildings if it is deemed the evil spirits are at work. All this is endorsed (and paid for) by the NZ government.

But the Maori have a better marketing agent than the Thais. The ceremonies are called Wairua and the spirits are called Kehua. The Kehua being ancestral spirits, and therefore the lifeblood of the "people".

They have many more other Maori names. There's a whole industry based around Maori cultural issues such as this, including the traditional Haka that is performed by the All Black rugby team prior to a game. Do we think the Haka is bizarre?

Ka mate Ka mate
It is death It is death

Ka ora Ka ora
It is life It is life
Ka mate Ka mate
It is death It is death

Ka ora Ka ora
It is life It is life

Tenei Te Tangata Puhuruhuru
This is the hairy man

Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra
Who caused the sun to shine again for me

Upane Upane
Up the ladder Up the ladder

Upane Kaupane
Up to the top

Whiti te ra
The sun shines!

I suspect our understanding of the Thai beliefs is somewhat lost in translation. Ghosts and goblins are childish stuff, but ancestral spirits and a culture based around traditional beliefs centuries old....well that's something different. Maybe we need to look at the "blessing" of the airport in more traditional terms.

You can borrow my DeLorean if you want. Flux capacitor is a bit dodgy though.

I'm staying home tonight. There'll be Falang rioting in the streets if the Bar Beers have run dry.

Oh wait, no beer, no drunk Falang? It's a chicken and egg sort of situation.

Nuh, I'll stay home.

interesting that they had the equipment and supplies at the ready to respond ( for painting)

I don't think it would be too hard to uncover a paint brush, a can of paint, and a ladder at the majority of international airports.

The same question of course needs to be asked of Cambodia and Viet Nam.

Are there any examples of countries which had this type of deeply entrenched corruption as the norm which later succeeded in effecting significant improvements?

To answer your question - yes, all first world countries.

Thanks for all the replies. I did state "per transaction" in the OP, meaning one pull and one fee

I'll see what Krungthai and UOB can do this week and report back.

Don't use an ATM. Go inside the bank. You'll get a much better exchange rate and avoid the ATM fee, plus your own banks fee. I haven't done it in a while, but pretty sure there was no fee.

Better still, open a Thai bank account and have your money TT'd over. Cost approx. AUD20 and no ATM fees from then on, plus a better rate.

I will ask about that, but last time I used my visa credit card across the counter it was a lot of hassle and cost pretty much the same. Did I do it wrong or use the wrong bank ?

I've used Kasikorn in Pattaya Central Plaza a number of times. Just have your passport. Took about 10 minutes and was no drama. I think they called my NZ bank, so maybe do it during your home country business hours.

By the way, I know a couple of chaps that have had their foreign cards gobbled by an ATM, never to be seen again. My advice is always use an ATM at a bank during opening hours - at least you have a chance to talk to the staff and get it back. If it's a 7/11, start whistling Dixie.

Don't use an ATM. Go inside the bank. You'll get a much better exchange rate and avoid the ATM fee, plus your own banks fee. I haven't done it in a while, but pretty sure there was no fee.

Better still, open a Thai bank account and have your money TT'd over. Cost approx. AUD20 and no ATM fees from then on, plus a better rate.

Buy a s/h shipping container rather than renting. They go for NZD1,000-1300 in New Zealand, should be similar in Aussie. Maybe you have a friend that will let you park the container at their place - or maybe a friend has a warehouse or business that you could park it in. Or find a storage/warehouse/transport company that has a large area of vacant land and store it there - probably charge $50 a month.

Or - do what I did and let your kids pilfer it for a couple of years to the point you have nothing left.

did this business tycoon already made enough money on it, so now stop corruption ??

Just about everyone is tainted, that's the reason why they should declare an amnesty and start again. Those with any sense will stop overnight in terror of losing everything.

Blether, an exceptional idea. However the requirement for those in power having "sense" ruins your perfect solution.

Changing the culture of corruption is not only possible, it is actually fairly simple.

The state of corruption at present is solely due to there being no effective rule of law and justice system. A system must be put into place to reign in the police's extra judicial power. Any extortion committed by police could be punished by execution for over a certain amount and lengthy prison terms for lesser amounts. With many of the public carrying smart phones it is easy to record the extortion happening and is great evidence of it. For example, Khun Z is caught carrying 1 gram of marijuana, police demand 100,000B for instant release. Khun Z takes his recording of this extortion to the NACC(or preferably a new body set up by impartial personnel- preferably foreign citizens to start with) and is granted immunity for his crime while the policeman would be executed.

It will be very fast, instant, for law to be applied by the books. I believe 1 gram of marijuana carries an official fine of around 5,000B (SWIK just got convicted in a Thai court this week for that exact offense and that was the fine).

For corruption involving billions the punishment must be shocking. Kim Jong Il could advise on some of his methods. 4 horses and a rope in front of family members would be my recommendation.

Get law, order and justice implemented properly, without favor, applied to all and you will find corruption will disappear faster than an energy drink scion.

It's not going to happen. Given the playing field the Thais currently have, nobody is going to be able to stop corruption. The only way it could be eradicated quickly is if a) there is a catastrophic natural disaster that demolishes infrastructure and the economy resulting in an occupational force from the west that reinstates authority;

or b ) there is a major social meltdown/serious civil war that demolishes infrastructure and the economy resulting in an occupational force from the west that reinstates authority.

Otherwise, wait four generations for it to "mature" as another poster has stated. And then look forward to tax rates of 40%, western prices for all goods and services, BIB that you can trust and respect, and "honest" politicians.

Always surprises me when other nationalities accuse Thailand of being corrupt.

look at your own country first. Take mine the Isle of Man, corruption is rife and no recourse to take action against those in power.

Then look at the Uk and USA totally corrupt at MHK and Senator level.

Time to open your eyes folks it aint just a Thai problem, at least they are unashamed of the way they go about it.

Good ol' fashioned "honest corruption".

Op - "one way" in Thailand means the way that you happen to be going.

Sometimes, expediency is the best alternative and Thais seem to accept and adapt to this. I used to think that the driver reversing 300m because he missed an exit or U-turn to avoid driving 2 klm to the next U-turn were lunatics. And while I'm not saying it's a particularly safe thing to do, when confronted with a similar situation, I chose to do it.

Expediency and adaptability - two things we have lost in the west due to the proliferation of the Nanny State, and the taking away of personal self responsibility over the last 40 years or so.

Expediency and adaptability are most certainly valued , however, reversing down major roads, highways or one way streets to suit your personal convienience leaves a lot to be desired.

Driving in this country is a rather dangerous undertaking for a variety of reasons. Thai's in general have little conception or regard for traffic regs or common sense for that mater and these traits makes conceptual driving very difficult as you can never be sure of what to expect and that is a given. Some of the things that happen are so far removed from anything we could possibly anticipate that they are beyond any form of comprehension even for the generic local drivers.

After driving in this country for 20 years, both cars and motor bikes, and I whole heartedly agree with your statement regarding adaptability as a necessary prerequsite for driving in Thailand, however, I do not think that a maxim of expediency brings anything possitive to Thai driving behaviours, in fact it may constitue a major root cause.

Over the years I have come to be less judgemental and more acceptant of the conditions that exist based on the premise that they are most unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. I have an ongoing personal battle to avoid slipping into the myriad of bad driving habits that surround me on a daily basis ,owing to what I perceive as the personal expediency of other drivers.

Evaluation of consequence is the precursor of expedient action and this is not a function that is taught,practised or even valued on the Thai roads. God only knows the temptation to follow suit owing to the abysmal road systems, however, should I find myself in the wrong place,then I consider that to be nobody'd fault but my own and refuse to redress the problem by making the most expedient decision on a personal basis, should it circumvent both traffic regulations and most of all, common sense.

A great post. I particularly like where you say "Evaluation of consequence is the precursor of expedient action and this is not a function that is taught,practised or even valued on the Thai roads."

I don't claim that all Thai driving habits are expedient or indeed safe, but my general observation is that many (not all) of the bizarre practices, while being contrary to our western driving style, are in fact evaluated for consequence and hence have become the local standard. I don't endorse poor or dangerous driving (subjectively), but one has to adapt in Thailand. It's impossible to drive like you're in our own country simply because it's a totally different environment.

I'm reminded of a former boss who is one of the world's worst drivers. Claimed to have driven for over 30 years and never had an accident. What he meant was, he'd never been in an accident that he considered was his fault. His wife recounted a dozen or more incidents where he'd been banged up, usually for driving too slow, not being aware of vehicles around him, and doing strange things like braking for green lights because they were going to change in 15 seconds. I had the misfortune to be a passenger on many occasion - nail biting stuff!

I think we (Falang in Thailand) compare Thai driving to our own country in two ways. One is objective and relates to the general practices, rules, enforcement etc. The other is very subjective - what sort of driver we ourselves are. Age doesn't make anybody a good driver, neither does driving time experience, distance travelled, lack of accidents, no tickets or demerit points, never being fined etc.

The subjectivity of one's own driving skills therefore is probably the crucial comparative. If, like me, you've track raced bikes and cars since the age of 20, and attended numerous track day training sessions designed to teach you to drive faster and safer, the perspective of Thai driving may be different from somebody who may be a relatively nervous or cautious driver.Or even worse, an aggressive driver that doesn't truly comprehend the physics and dynamics of driving/riding. I'm not implying that track racing is an essential aspect. I know many excellent untrained drivers that are "naturals".

For example - a driver that doesn't know the limits of his machine and/or his skill is a potential menace. Therefore, it is likely that this sort of driver is more likely to feel uncomfortable driving in Thailand. When was the last time you drove your car/bike at 160klm/h+ per hour and did an emergency brake, just to understand the feeling - or even 100klm/h? Do you really understand ABS, and have you experienced it in action? How fast can your vehicle actually go around a bend, irrespective of the speed limit? Do you understand the concept of apexing a bend, late apexing, do you adjust speed for negative/positive camber? Have you floored your gas pedal at different speeds just to see what capability your vehicle has if/when you need to use that power?

I was once a passenger in a car that was overtaking on a dual carriageway (the boss). He was so obsessed with not breaking the speed limit that he was oblivious to the oncoming traffic. I begged him to floor it and for three seconds he refused until I literally screamed in his ear. We avoided a head on by inches. His comment, "I didn't know the car could accelerate like that". Genius!

Anyway, assessing Thai driving is very subjective in my opinion and largely says what sort of driver we ourselves are.

We need to remember be calm, I am not always ! ! ! , if we are involved in an accident we are the ones at fault, as one judge said if we were not here and on the road the accodent would not have happened QED

Nonsense. In 20-odd years of living here I've had a few accidents, one of which was serious, but no one over suggested it was my fault. The judge statement is just an urban myth.

Agree. The "if you weren't here...." is urban legend. I've had two dings in the truck, one of them major and I actually thought it was my fault. Nobody hurt thank goodness. The police decided otherwise and fined the other driver. No tea money, no drama, a pleasant (given the circumstances) experience.

I'm no expert, but logic would say that provided she leaves prior to the expiry of the visa dates as shown in her passport, no problems now or in the future.

It doesn't matter what you "asked" for. The visa dates are the visa dates - end of story.

What they gonna paint on the plane next?

"FOR SALE"

In Chinese ?

Nuh. I had a busted bookcase that I put outside my gate for rubbish collection. In the 5 minutes I went inside to get a shelf that went with it, some bugger nicked the bookcase.

Maybe Thai are hoping the same bugger will come along one night and nick the busted plane?

Side note - I left the shelf and secretly watched it for 20 minutes, no action. Went for a 5 minute leak and it was gone. Now I'm thinking it's them <deleted> Thai Airways ghosts!

"Mastubatory circles". My mind is boggling now!!

Should have been 'Circle Jerk'

When a bunch of blowhards - usually politicians - get together for a debate but usually end up agreeing with each other's viewpoints to the point of redundancy, stroking each other's egos as if they were extensions of their genitals (ergo, the mastubatory insinuation). Basically, it's what happens when the choir preaches to itself.

LOL

for real? I honestly thought the author was being polite. Was this really a translation issue? or am I showing my naivety?

It's for real. He must have a good command of English to understand the slang. He could have only gone one better and said they were pulling each other off.

However I don't think that will translate to Thai very well. Chuck-Wow (masturbate) literally translates as the pulling action when flying a kite. So essentially the journalist is saying the politicians are flying kites. On second thoughts, it's probably not too far away.

I wonder if he'd comprehend the Master Bates, Seaman Stains, and Rodger the Cabin Boy innuendos from the take off of the Cap'n Pugwash kids program back in the 60's?