Gsxrnz

David48, on 08 Jun 2013 - 15:44, said:

Khun Jean, on 08 Jun 2013 - 15:20, said:

I see people doing backbreaking work, probably for long hours because they are too poor to buy the necessary tools. And because of that make the best of it.

That reminds me when it is my turn to start building to buy at least a concrete mixer, wheelbarrow, hacksaw, and a few brushes for the man who is gluing pvc pipes with his finger.

Yeh ... I saw that bit with the pipe join, glue and the finger ... poor bugger.

That stuff is seriously not good for your health.

Mixing concrete by hand is back breaking work for sure but what amuses me is that the job could have been done properly with the same effort - there is absolutely no planning or logic in how the job was done, it's extremely low standard even though all the materials were there to do it properly, or at least give the finished job a chance of lasting a few years before it all cracks and subsides.

Great post! It sums up Thai construction standards in one quick video. It doesn't matter what's underneath or behind the construction as long as the finished product looks OK. If I was the guy having the concrete laid I would have been having kittens - luckily he's a bit laid back about it and was more impressed with the short time the job took. Duh - there's a reason it didn't take long!

I've had hours of fun watching a small condo being built across the road from me. The sh*te that's been covered up in concrete render amazed me. Exterior walls constructed of thin cinder blocks with shoddy mortar, not a single piece of reinforcing in the whole wall and no steel tying it to the floors or pillars. A rugby scrum leaning against the wall from the inside could push it out without even trying. But covered in render it looks solid as a rock. I have visions of the new owner knocking a nail into the wall to hang a picture and the whole wall falling out in front of him!

A concrete truck left some spillage after pouring concrete for the pillars and I checked it out - if there was more than a handful of aggregate per cubic metre then I would be surprised. Essentially it was just a render with a few token bits of pebble.

Then watched them install large aluminium framed windows (floor to ceiling), fixed with what appeared to be 2 x 50mm screws on each face - 8 short screws holding the whole thing in, and the concrete render over the two pillars with no strength must have been 25mm thick anyway. If you bumped into the glass the whole panel will fall out before the glass breaks. The steel and glass balcony balustrade was fixed the same way - short screws into low standard concrete that didn't even require a pilot hole to be drilled - scary stuff.

You'd think he'd see enough flesh at the gogo bar - it's a bit like coals to Newcastle.

do you really need travel insurance?

Yes, unless your health insurance has world-wide coverage. Ours covers us everywhere in the world EXCEPT for the U.S. -- there's no way I'll ever set foot in the U.S. again without travel insurance. Health care is very expensive.

Also, it's good for people who are seasonal visitors to CM to get travel insurance before they leave their home country. This winter I know of two people who had health problems here and their travel insurance not only paid for extra in-flight services needed because of their health problem, but also paid for a family member to come to CM and travel home with them.

And if anybody is already in Thailand and didn't get Travel Insurance before they left, it can still be purchased from some companies. Nomads is one of those companies. With most companies you have to buy before you leave your country of residence.

I forgot to add the link to the currency trader that I've used. Metatrader is the software. I'm not saying it's the best but when I evaluated a few different trading platforms, this was the one that I picked because of its ease of functionality and options.

By the way, somebody else mentioned about the importance of a solid internet connection and an alternate backup - they were right, there's nothing worse than waiting for a few pips movement in your direction to make a margin or decide to adjust your stop/loss or stop/profit and you lose connectivity. Log back in and see the margin you could have made if you had your eyes on the screen, but too late, it went through your trigger and back again resulting in a lost opportunity or worse, an actual loss.

http://www.acfx.com/

It is untrue to charge me with making Bt131 million from manufacturers and from compensation on egg prices granted by the Committee on Policies and Measures to Assist Farmers,” he said.

Note that he doesn't deny taking money, he just denies the 131 million. Keep in mind that this is the same guy that told red shirts to burn their city halls, not to wait, he would take the responsibility. Has anyone seen him offer to turn down reconciliation, or offer to take the place of some red shirt still in jail? No......and you never will, just another pig at the trough.

There must be some basis in the truth in this as who would spill the beans by quoting such a figure as 131 million baht as it seems too specific to me if there wasn't any substance to this story!!

True, and I agree. But as a side note, have you noticed that Thailand has a habit of quoting overly precise numbers in their news reports and government press releases etc. I recall one that said there were something like 3,234,653 children who were considered to be lacking in nutrition (can't recall the detail). And have seen many other precise numbers quoted in statements. Whereas we would probably say "in excess of 3.2M".

Learning how to use the software is one thing, knowing what the hell to do with the software is another thing. She wants to trade derivatives but has no idea of put/call options, hedging, futures, bid/offer, leverage, stop losses, margin calls etc I assume? Maybe just read somewhere that there's a fortune to be made in the derivatives market and wants to get on the train. Does she understand or stand a chance of understanding NPV calculations and the like?

If you're hell bent on it, start with something simple and understandable like trading currency - the way the THB is dynamically moving against the different cross rates at the moment she stands a chance of not losing her shirt in the first 30 minutes seconds of trading.

I'd like to know what her trading strategy is going to be, regardless of what market she goes into. I work on the "take a punt with no real logic and hope for the best" strategy. It doesn't work for me.....so good luck with that.

On the other hand, buy her some chickens (of the female variety) and get them to lay eggs......real product, real market, tangible, and understandable.

My wife is the comptroller of a major multinatinal company in Thailand. I was looking for some information on learning how to trade CFDs. Have you ever traded CFDs?

Yes I have, and also been involved in money markets, bond trading, futures, IR hedges/swaps, oil hedges and currency markets privately as well as for companies I'm involved with. We had specific treasury requirements to cover positions related to actual product and operating overheads (fuel, currency, interest rates etc.) and were managing hedged positions to smooth cash flow, margins and profits in the real world.

OK so your position is now a little clearer in that your wife obviously has some financial knowledge and is no slug. If she understands basic accounting and cashflows to a balance sheet stage and is able to interpret basic banking ratios then she has a head start on trading.

I suggest she seeks knowledge from the internet and gains some knowledge about the complexities of the instruments she may eventually be trading in, and the basic knowledge behind why the derivatives exist, their "real world" purpose, and why/how the prices move. I'm sure there is a host of info from companies that sell the trading services but no doubt will be tailored towards their specific software and specific market. She needs to understand the basics of the instruments, that's why I say just search the web, probably wiki for clear explanations and formulae.

Without being mentored as an employee in a trading establishment, or taking an advanced degree at a recognised university that gets into the nitty-gritty, then the only way she can begin to understand them is through gaining self knowledge. If she has a real hunger to understand the complexities then she will master them.

She then needs to determine a broad trading strategy - is she going to be a day trader hoping to pick/fluke the peaks and troughs intra day, or is she going to hold commodities/currencies/options or whatever for periods, and at what stop/loss figure/ratio is she going to close out the trade. Or does she need to be able to interpret financial or economic data at base level, company level, industry level, geographic level, climate level, commodity level, global level so she can make decisions based on her own expectations of outcomes?

Or, as someone else suggested, will she become a chartist - does she understand the basics behind all the different chartist methodologies? - this is something else she needs to understand because in theory a chartist can be "out thunk", if you know how they think and can take advantage of their methods to out-trade them. And they can out think you as well.

After gaining some knowledge that I've outlined, sign up as a play trader - totally free and fully functional in most cases. I'd recommend that she start with currencies as I mentioned in my first post because these are the most tangible markets. She will be able to learn the methodology and functionality on a relatively simple platform. If she gets this software (regardless of the CFD you choose to work with), before she understands trading concepts then she will be totally lost with the language and jargon and may be put off by the whole idea. eg - if she doesn't understand the concept of stop/losses and selling short on currencies, the trading platform itself will just scare her off the whole idea because she won't understand the functionality of the software.

Hope I've helped with a few ideas, and good luck.

Natty - you're an oeuf.

One for the linguists amongst us.

I've been told I'm a cunning linguist, but that's another story - from the French I believe, good for omelettes.

Good double entendre by the way.

Learning how to use the software is one thing, knowing what the hell to do with the software is another thing. She wants to trade derivatives but has no idea of put/call options, hedging, futures, bid/offer, leverage, stop losses, margin calls etc I assume? Maybe just read somewhere that there's a fortune to be made in the derivatives market and wants to get on the train. Does she understand or stand a chance of understanding NPV calculations and the like?

If you're hell bent on it, start with something simple and understandable like trading currency - the way the THB is dynamically moving against the different cross rates at the moment she stands a chance of not losing her shirt in the first 30 minutes seconds of trading.

I'd like to know what her trading strategy is going to be, regardless of what market she goes into. I work on the "take a punt with no real logic and hope for the best" strategy. It doesn't work for me.....so good luck with that.

On the other hand, buy her some chickens (of the female variety) and get them to lay eggs......real product, real market, tangible, and understandable.

To put it in perspective, that's less than 2 baht per head of population. I wonder if that's how corrupt officials justify their actions - "not really hurting anybody, it's only a few baht out of everyone's pocket, and nobody really cares about 2 baht, do they?"

Why Are There So Many People Who Just Bitch About This Country?

In short, just look at the actions and behaviour of the populace.

<------ sigh------>

Thanks folks.

It is actually a ror or law instead of a nah.

FWIT

The first two are just different pronunciations of the same particle.

All three (plus "chai mai"?) have the same meaning, seeking confirmation of something assumed to be known by both parties.

"Isn't that right?" or "eh?" tacked onto the end of a statement.

As already noted, the "nah"? form is more friendly, trying to be persuasive and I believe feminine?

Yep, I think your summation is pretty good. I find it rather cute when Thai women speak English but add the polite "ka" as well, as in "Good Morning ka, or thank you ka" I've started doing the same thing by adding the kahp/krap if I speak English back to them. They take note of the politeness more so than if you added the polite particle after speaking Thai. It does pay dividends.

Op - I started a similar thread a while ago and asked many of the same questions. I concluded that the negativity in some of the replies to my post as well as the negativity towards many things "Thai" that we see here on TV or hear from Falang that we meet, is what you would probably expect from those same individuals in any country in the world, on any subject imaginable.

TV members seem to use the phrase "grumpy old men", or "grumpy git" to describe this subset of Falang on TV and those at large in Thailand. Where I come from we have a more definitive term - "sad prick".

It's because of who they are (personality type) as opposed to where they are. Trying to unwind their attitude to have some sort of balanced perspective is pointless and will only depress you. I suggest that you don't even bother (on TV) to argue with anybody who has a negative view - much better to post either a more positive experience that you've personally had, or maybe offer balanced critique if the situation is applicable.

Good Luck to you....( I may need some as well!)

I think that as you're a British Citizen and live with your wife in Thailand your wife would have no problem getting a visa to have a holiday in NZ, probably be easier than for the spouse of a NZ national.

I wouldn't worry about the absence of a job, a stable life in a family unit in Thailand can persuade a visa officer that the applicant is likely to return home.

As with all applicants your wife will need to demonstrate that the proposed visit is genuine and affordable.

That is assuming that the "wife" is actually a legal wife in the eyes of either Thailand or UK. Either way she will have to provide evidence of ability to pay for herself whilst in the country and return tickets etc, simply because she is travelling on a Thai passport and that's the requirement. Check out the NZ embassy website and you can download all the forms.

NZ is reasonably easy to get a visa but I'd suspect that you may have to act as a sponsor/guarantor and also be able to prove evidence of ability to support her/guarantee her.

I'm a Pom with NZ Permanent Residence and had no trouble, but I had to act as guarantor, prove evidence of wealth etc.

It took me one visit to the embassy in BKK, a follow up phone call from them to my GF to verify a few things (actually to verify that she had reason to return to Thailand and sort of an honesty test by asking the same things in different ways), visa was granted a week later - two weeks all up.

You forget me na? Often used as a ploy by some of the smarter girls to get you to take a second look - which of course you do, and then they have a second chance to lure you into their bar, even though they've never set eyes on you before.

I saw one that was classic at this at a bar in Soi 7 and she had some great luck with it. She actually said this rather than saying the classic "Wailkum". She also had a follow up line - "wot your name teelak, I forget".

So what happens if two "non-gender" individuals get together and have a child (assuming that's possible) or have previously had children? How does the child refer to his/her/zies/hirs/its parents? Mum and Dad would appear to be ruled out as they are gender specific terms.

Oh I know........Mumzie or Mumhir, or Dadzie or Dadhir....depending on which way the parents or the child feel orientated.

The world has gone to hell in a handcart, it really has - it all started with the replacement of manhole with personhole. Political incorrectness for the sake of political correctness.

Do they still call the place where the pilot sits a cockpit?

When True installed my dish they didn't have a position locater. One bloke was up the ladder, the other was inside watching the strength meter on the TV, and they yelled good, bad, better worse etc to each other as the bloke outside moved the dish around. Very comical - took them 30 minutes and then when they had it correct the bloke on the ladder dropped his spanner and couldn't lock the dish in place. Another 30 minutes........

While in theory trees do have a detrimental affect on satellite reception, it's been my experience that the impact is minimal and I've had trees in the way as well as a tin roof of a residential building, and also a neighbours house (brick) in the way. Never had a problem.

I think the real killer is ferro concrete.

OP - is that a pic of a phone screen?

The ultimate irony - the wife bought a bag of food sized plastic bags at the market and they put them in a plastic bag.

As a somewhat sinister way to reduce the plastic bag usage, I suggest that all scooters are stripped of the wee hookey thing designed to hang your plastic bags on.

Have a look here - self explanatory.

"All foreigners with driving licences issued outside of the UK are allowed to drive in the UK for 12 months without obtaining a British driving licence."

But I suspect that as you're a British resident, you might have a few dramas if the boys in blue pick you up for a dodgy taillight trying to explain why a UK resident is driving on a Thai passport.

http://www.justlanded.com/english/UK/UK-Guide/Travel-Leisure/Driving-licences

You could try doing it yourself by contacting a shipping agent/freight forwarder. They can arrange the delivery and pickup of the container, documentation, international shipping, and on-land shipping at your destination. You do the packing etc yourself. You'll save considerably on an international moving company as all you're paying for is the freight.

Don't forget to get the appropriate insurance and if you use an international moving company, don't be tempted to accept their bog standard insurance unless you understand the risks and exceptions.