Gsxrnz

Seems odd - a checkup should include checking the filter. I think the Toyota staff had a crack at you, did you have or have you had any conflict in the past with them?

If you look at the air filter hosing configuration, you'll note that it's virtually impossible for a rat to get there by itself.

A better trick is to tie-wire a fish on top of the the muffler.

I'm assuming the facts are as reported.

I'm not usually an advocate of the hang 'em high brigade - but I'm totally intolerant of this sort of inhuman behaviour so I'm volunteering to buy the rope for these four pieces of human dog excrement.

The mother in my view is twice as guilty as the men. It's travesties like this where biblical "stoning" would be just deserts.

It seems that most if not all government officials and politicians are completely unaware of the laws of supply and demand.

Subsidies that create artificial pricing have very long term effects, even more so when the subsidy involves a major export crop and there are eager competitors that can quickly fill any supply gap at a cheaper cost to the purchaser.

Thailand has made a rod for its back that may take a decade to recover from. Rice production stability/pricing cannot even begin to recover until/unless the subsidy is stopped.

The irony is that due to world oversupply and a total domestic cockup in the scheme and its administration, it may well come to the stage where the government (or the opposition) decide to pay farmers a subsidy/incentive NOT to grow rice.

The best way to increase export prices is create a supply shortage.

It seems that most if not all government officials and politicians are completely unaware of the laws of supply and demand.

Subsidies that create artificial pricing have very long term effects, even more so when the subsidy involves a major export crop and there are eager competitors that can quickly fill any supply gap at a cheaper cost to the purchaser.

Thailand has made a rod for its back that may take a decade to recover from. Rice production stability/pricing cannot even begin to recover until/unless the subsidy is stopped.

The irony is that due to world oversupply and a total domestic cockup in the scheme and its administration, it may well come to the stage where the government (or the opposition) decide to pay farmers a subsidy/incentive NOT to grow rice.

The best way to increase export prices is create a supply shortage.

Caught this one last week, scared the shit out of me

Has facial similarities to my ex wife back home.

The " am not a redneck, ya F***ing filthy <insert multiple derogatory words for any race, religion or sexual preference> lover" Brigade

The "culturally sensitive about their culture, culturally insensitive about other cultures, and don't get the irony" Brigade

A lot of acreage to get road rash if they tip over. There'd be nowhere left to get skin for a skin graft.

The IQ of about 6, not only chose to sell drugs in a country with extremely severe penalties but the icing on the cake is to sell them to a random stranger who calls your phone number.

Love the pun.

20 years ago if you asked somebody in the street where can you buy an apple, they'd point you to the nearest fruit store. I bet nowadays only somebody older then 65 would even think "fruit" if you asked the same question.

She's also got a rifle mounted beside the bike where the exhaust would normally be.

As someone who is regular there and was there ,this article says only a small part of story. I'm not blaming nobody,i am just being objective.

Article says only about not wanting to get off the stage and flipping the tip box. It didn't mention 2 drunk americans disrespecting/swearing/insulting people/bend,putting a microphone in pants and at last just before leaving bar -spitting in a face of a thai girl which was girlfriend of bend musician that was singing.

A story has always two sides. Of course they didn't deserve to die but their really bad behaviour was reason someone did die. When someone come to holiday and then behave like that i don't even want to think how then they behave in their home country.

If what you say is true (and I have no reason to doubt your research), one wonders how long these two would have lasted in any bar in any country in the world, be they tourists or locals.

No justification for a killing, but surely a recipe for disaster.

The north Pattaya roundabout was recently closed because Thais cannot be courteous to each other and a cement mixer ran over a mother of 2 children's head.

http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/81046/go-go-dancer-killed-road-crash-north-pattaya-dolphin-roundabout/

Thanks for the link, I'd missed that story. Very sad situation. It does seem that drivers of concrete trucks have a particular attitude, they often come steaming into controlled or uncontrolled intersections with their horns blaring to force their way through. They are to be avoided at all costs whether you're a pedestrian, motorcyclist, or driver.

As for roundabouts - that's one of the shortcomings of Thai drivers. There aren't very many of them to get experience on, and I believe that the rules are a bit obscure, something along the lines of the vehicle entering the roundabout has the right of way or something - maybe somebody else can clarify.

EDIT: I was wrong about the right of way on a roundabout, traffic on the right has priority. Here's a cool link about Thai driving styles that's written a little tongue in cheek, but a few home truths. http://freebeerforyorky.com/driving.html

I agree with your summations. They've installed a dozen new sets of lights around Jomtien and I feel a lot less safe now than when they were uncontrolled intersections. And now the traffic is slower and builds up much more to a congested level because of poor flow.

I am not sure how car financing works in Thailand but in Malaysia I agreed to a certain interest rate for a certain number of months. As I paid back the loan, the monthly payments stayed the same, i.e. as the loan decreased I was still paying interest on the original loan amount. So the true annual interest rate was effectively far higher than the quoted rate.

Best to be fully aware of exactly what the loan conditions are and what the true annual interest rate is, not just the attractive quoted rate.

Same in Thailand if from a dealer or finance company, basically it's Hire Purchase. May be a reducing type (amortised) loan if from a bank but I doubt it, unless you raise the loan against a house and have a reducing or table mortgage.

HP is Rule of 78. Interest is paid on a reducing proportion over the life of the loan, rather than amortising the principle.. The first payment is basically 98% interest. The last payment is 98% principal. This means that there is no incentive to pay off the loan early as their is no benefit to you.

Thankfully I live in Pattaya, you don't get shenanigans like this happening here.

You are joking right?

Um yep.....I was being sarcastic.

Obviously my sad attempt at whimsical sarcasm hasn't come up to the standards necessary to convince some of the TV people all the time, nor indeed all of the TV people some of the time.

There are several ways to achieve the desired result.

One way is to mix your pebbles/aggregate in with the cement mixture if starting from scratch. Lay the concrete and allow to semi-dry and then hose off the top layer of the cement. This exposes the aggregate. This is the best idea with large pebbles, but if you want the gritty look, not recommended.

The second way is to mix plain concrete if starting from scratch, lay it and then sprinkle the aggregate over the semi-dry concrete. I wouldn't recommend this. If the concrete already exists, you could lay a suitably coloured plaster and then sprinkle the aggregate/grit on top. Not recommended.

The third way is to lay concrete normally, or maybe it already exists. Make a plaster using your desired aggregate and a suitable matching coloured plaster, and then plaster it on smooth and level. This is probably the easiest method as the pebble/grit is three dimensional as part of the coloured plaster. BUT.......make sure you go over the bare concrete first with a chipping hammer and make a rough surface before you plaster. If not your aggregate plaster will crack and damage in no time. Also leave a few expansion joints if you can.

You may still want to hose off when 99% cured to remove some of the plaster and expose more of the aggregate to your desired look and feel. This is the way I've done it before with good results.

All methods have pros and cons as to ease of application and overall look and durability.

I guess it depends on your skills as to how you achieve it - good luck.

EDIT: I've used the word plaster above, but most would probably call it a coloured cement render.

Or.. just pay a professional 250-300 Baht per sqm, all done

True, but once you have the DIY bug you tend to want to do it yourself - cost/savings becomes irrelevant to the point that you'll pay 5,000 baht for a special tool that you'll never use more than once to do a job that a local could do for 500 baht.

If you buy a car on finance it is in the finance co.'s name not yours, so that is not an issue, you can register it in either name at the end of the finance and pay no attention to those scare-stories you've been hearing.

Getting the finance is more of an issue. I bought a car on finance 7 years ago and as a foreigner had to put down 50% minimum, although so that would seem to suit you anyway. My then girlfriend had to stand as guarantor on the loan even though she had no significant income. To be honest the finance companies seem to be very able to find ways to lend money pretty easily, they don't want to miss out on business.

Same experience but only put 33% down and 36 months to pay. They wanted 50% but I said no, will only give 1/3. They asked to see my bank passbook which had several million baht coming through over the prior 12 months so they were happy with that. The then GF (now wife) had to guarantee.

Mind you, the interest rate is nothing short of rape, but the cashflow suited me at the time. I actually didn't know if I was going to stay "forever", so would have been happy to walk away from a truck that I'd only paid a 1/3 deposit and maybe a few instalments on. Still here and only a couple more payments to make.

Get top level A grade insurance and no worries. "They'll come after you" is utter nonsense. I've had one minor and one major ding and no problems with insurance, the repairers, the BIB, or the other parties. No injuries involved, so it might have been a different situation re compensation etc.

If you buy a car on finance it is in the finance co.'s name not yours, so that is not an issue, you can register it in either name at the end of the finance and pay no attention to those scare-stories you've been hearing.

Getting the finance is more of an issue. I bought a car on finance 7 years ago and as a foreigner had to put down 50% minimum, although so that would seem to suit you anyway. My then girlfriend had to stand as guarantor on the loan even though she had no significant income. To be honest the finance companies seem to be very able to find ways to lend money pretty easily, they don't want to miss out on business.

Same experience but only put 33% down and 36 months to pay. They wanted 50% but I said no, will only give 1/3. They asked to see my bank passbook which had several million baht coming through over the prior 12 months so they were happy with that. The then GF (now wife) had to guarantee.

Mind you, the interest rate is nothing short of rape, but the cashflow suited me at the time. I actually didn't know if I was going to stay "forever", so would have been happy to walk away from a truck that I'd only paid a 1/3 deposit and maybe a few instalments on. Still here and only a couple more payments to make.

Get top level A grade insurance and no worries. "They'll come after you" is utter nonsense. I've had one minor and one major ding and no problems with insurance, the repairers, the BIB, or the other parties. No injuries involved, so it might have been a different situation re compensation etc.

There are several ways to achieve the desired result.

One way is to mix your pebbles/aggregate in with the cement mixture if starting from scratch. Lay the concrete and allow to semi-dry and then hose off the top layer of the cement. This exposes the aggregate. This is the best idea with large pebbles, but if you want the gritty look, not recommended.

The second way is to mix plain concrete if starting from scratch, lay it and then sprinkle the aggregate over the semi-dry concrete. I wouldn't recommend this. If the concrete already exists, you could lay a suitably coloured plaster and then sprinkle the aggregate/grit on top. Not recommended.

The third way is to lay concrete normally, or maybe it already exists. Make a plaster using your desired aggregate and a suitable matching coloured plaster, and then plaster it on smooth and level. This is probably the easiest method as the pebble/grit is three dimensional as part of the coloured plaster. BUT.......make sure you go over the bare concrete first with a chipping hammer and make a rough surface before you plaster. If not your aggregate plaster will crack and damage in no time. Also leave a few expansion joints if you can.

You may still want to hose off when 99% cured to remove some of the plaster and expose more of the aggregate to your desired look and feel. This is the way I've done it before with good results.

All methods have pros and cons as to ease of application and overall look and durability.

I guess it depends on your skills as to how you achieve it - good luck.

EDIT: I've used the word plaster above, but most would probably call it a coloured cement render.

Spoonman - thanks, for the bad news!

What on earth is the justification for calculating the tax based on a "like new" price rather than on the actual "price paid"?

Now we will have to decided whether to keep it (CR-V) or replace it with a new Jazz/City or similar...

The justification is simply that you have been allowed an exemption from the vicious import duties by virtue of your diplomatic status (and conditional to reexporting it or selling it to another diplomat). If all diplomats could import cars from abroad tax free and resell them, you would immediately have a lucrative traffic taking place.

I have no problem with paying tax on the car, but I'm just a bit shocked that we have to calculate it based on the "New value". rather than based on what we paid.

Ouch, ouch, OUCH!

This makes it even more amazing (at the risk of going off-topic!) that there are so many Benz on the streets of Bkk.

Thanks and best wishes,

N

Customs are charging you the tax that was avoided based on the date that it was avoided, and the values attributable at the time.

Watch out because they may even tack on an additional "use of money" (interest) cost. This would be the time value of the money while it has been technically withheld from the government. The IRD in New Zealand wouldn't bat an eye in making a charge like this.

I believe bears do in fact, defecate in the woods.