Gsxrnz

I assume the message you get is in Thai, therefore your call is reaching Thailand, just not connecting to the particular phone you're calling.

Either her phone is turned off or she has no reception.

For the same reason they use Nong, Pee, Noo, Loong, Yai etc rather than use given names.

They also rarely use personal pronouns (pomme, di-chan) and will instead use their own name, or refer to themselves as pee or nong etc depending on who they are talking to, or talking about, and their respective age relationship/status.

It's just the way the language works.

Wife Beater

CCC - Probably not a lot you can do I'm afraid. One would assume that your genuine friends, even genuine acquaintances would not associate you or your wife with the business or its implied seedy side simply because she is Thai. Anybody that does do that are probably not worth bothering with anyway.

Let it take its natural course. Is there a chance the business is legit?

Man Falang

By the way....how old is this lady and how old is your friend? I have met several slightly older ladies (think 40s-50s) in Thailand who are successful and don't want for money, but they want companionship. The problem is that most foreign men are interested in much younger women. So, if this woman is in her 40s or so, I could believe it more. Just as an example, I know a lady who owns a large, 3-floor building and she runs several small businesses out of the first floor. Has a car, has the house and takes care of her kids. She is always hounding me about foreign men and she really doesn't need any more money. Kids all go to good schools, they have all the food they need, etc. She just wants someone to work with her and share it with. So, a lot of this depends on him meeting her, too.

Thank you for your serious reply. The Lady is 33 and she has 2 kids, 6 and 10 years old, my friend is 36, a simple workind man, never married, no kids. But he still believes in Santa !

Dao16 does make some valid points that I hadn't previously considered. However, your description of your friend suggests that he might fit into the "naïve" category - particularly if he has the Santa syndrome. You describe him as a simple working man, never married etc.

That level of naivety, the Santa syndrome, possible lack of worldliness or street sense leaves him wide open to becoming a victim.....and Thailand eats those kind of guys for breakfast.

It all sounds highly circumspect - and that's an understatement.

Tell him to ask her to wire him the 10,000 baht before he leaves home as a sign of good faith, and also, can she please pay the airfare for him.

Come back and tell us she did that and I'll eat a whole durian, (which I totally detest), followed by my best golf cap sautéed in bpa-raa, and then the rear tire off my scooter for dessert.

Oh - and suggest that he wakes up and smells the coffee.

Silk boxers is the solution to the numb bum syndrome. SILK, not nylon or any synthetic. Done tens of thousands of kilometres on sports bikes that have the most uncomfortable seats known to man, but silk boxers really do the job.

Used to ride a whole tank of gas between stops (say 450 klm) and get off with no pain in the bum at all - wrists were buggered, but that's another story.

Look on the gas bottle. Usually the vendor has their company name and telephone numbers right on there. Call them up and a guy with motorcycle and sidecar will be there with a replacement in 30 minutes or less.

If you go to any other company than where you bought the bottle, I believe you have to pay a deposit again.

Or.....like most things in Thailand, if you stand on the side of the road a vendor of virtually everything will drive past you within 10 minutes. It's the only place in the world you can buy everything from Viagra to a map of Thailand (and everything in between, without stating the obvious) without actually going anywhere.

Just hang around the corner and wave to the next bloke on a scooter with a gas bottle that drives past.

I've lost count of the number of Falang bar and restaurant owners in Pattaya that have done their dough and have either gone home with their tail between their legs, spend their days lamenting to anybody who will listen about how much money they lost......or still own the bar/restaurant/guesthouse and every customer is a potential purchaser that they try to con into buying it.

When you talk to these guys, their typical background is that they worked 35 or 40 years as an employee in a manual type trade at home, are "union" men (bugger the boss syndrome), rarely had any management or staff supervisory roles, have never employed or recruited staff, never EVER taken any financial risk where their success depends on their own efforts, know less than nothing about small business practices such as stock management, cashflow, margins etc,

So it's little surprise that when they come to a foreign country with literally their life savings, can't speak the language, don't know <deleted> about business, don't know <deleted> about the system in Thailand, and think they can run a successful business.......that their bubble takes as long to burst as their savings lasts.

The only successful businesses that I"ve come across are the ones run by guys that have done the same thing in their own country and are traditional self employed characters - they know the risks and know the business, and are aware of what they're getting into. At least they know the basics and can largely adapt to local practices.

I'm afraid a retired Telco technician from Dipshit City, Nebraska (or Aussie or Norway) doesn't really have much of a chance of making money, or in fact retaining the value of the original investment.

Outstanding Post!!! (but you'll never stop them)

The romantic notion of Bar Owning in South East Asia. They have even made movies about it. There is a little bit of Rick in 'Casablanca' in all of us I guess.

I was 22 YO when a mate and I thought about chucking in our lot and seriously contemplated buying the 'Yellow Brick Road' Bar at the top end of M H Del Pilar Street, Ermita, Manila. Prior to the sex tourist and mail order bride boom.

Smartest thing I never did. Without doubt.

I frequented them and drank in them all my life and I can count on one hand, with change, those that survived and/or thrived. Those who did almost always had a loyal, smart, diligent, honest, connected, local behind the scenes running the shop, and these people are not easy to come by.

I agree that they'll never stop doing it, there's a bit of the romantic in all of us as you say.

I actually considered buying a small bar just for the hell of it. Make it more like a social club with no expectation of making money, just do it to keep myself busy and a place to call "home" for a good bunch of friends, and at least save the margin on my own alcohol consumption.

Did a comprehensive budget and even with outrageously positive expectations on sales,concluded that the Messiah would be appearing long before I turned over a profit. The latest model showed that I'd have to contribute 10k Baht per month to the working capital to keep it afloat. Based on COF, lost investment opportunity, and contributed capital, I could successfully have turned 2M Baht into 1M Baht in 2 years, and into nothing at all in 3-4 years......now that's how to make a small fortune in Thailand!!

It appears that the world will have to wait quite a long time for the first Thai Rocket Scientist to emerge.

If she did a transfer via an ATM, simply pushing an incorrect number for the receiving account would rarely result in being a valid bank account number. Bank account numbers are not issued sequentially, the numbers must conform to CDV (Check Digit Verification). Essentially this means that a bank account number must compute to an algorithm. Therefore, her saying she punched the incorrect numbers and maybe some unknown rice farmer's wife in Nakon Nowhere got the money wouldn't hold much water.

Once again, assuming this was an ATM transfer, she would have seen the name of the recipient on the screen as part of the process - I assume she knows her Mum's name?

The bank will have computer records of the transaction and will be happy to provide details if you request them. It might cost a search fee and may take a few days, but they will do it. I know because I got a mysterious deposit of 10k Baht and asked them for the details. Turned out to be a glitch in the network and there was a corresponding 10k debit that I hadn't spotted - the ATM network crashed immediately after I made a withdrawal and data got delayed/mashed. The transactions were interbank clearing/balancing transactions as part of the network crash. The point being that the bank were happy to research it for me.

Once you've been to the bank, you should know the truth about the transaction. I don't think you're going to like the outcome unfortunately.

EDIT: On the other hand, maybe the parents DID receive the money but are denying it in an attempt to get more money. If this is the case, your wife is duty bound to "believe" them, even if she suspects that they're telling porkies.. Face, and honour the parents blah blah blah.

I've lost count of the number of Falang bar and restaurant owners in Pattaya that have done their dough and have either gone home with their tail between their legs, spend their days lamenting to anybody who will listen about how much money they lost......or still own the bar/restaurant/guesthouse and every customer is a potential purchaser that they try to con into buying it.

When you talk to these guys, their typical background is that they worked 35 or 40 years as an employee in a manual type trade at home, are "union" men (bugger the boss syndrome), rarely had any management or staff supervisory roles, have never employed or recruited staff, never EVER taken any financial risk where their success depends on their own efforts, know less than nothing about small business practices such as stock management, cashflow, margins etc,

So it's little surprise that when they come to a foreign country with literally their life savings, can't speak the language, don't know <deleted> about business, don't know <deleted> about the system in Thailand, and think they can run a successful business.......that their bubble takes as long to burst as their savings lasts.

The only successful businesses that I"ve come across are the ones run by guys that have done the same thing in their own country and are traditional self employed characters - they know the risks and know the business, and are aware of what they're getting into. At least they know the basics and can largely adapt to local practices.

I'm afraid a retired Telco technician from Dipshit City, Nebraska (or Aussie or Norway) doesn't really have much of a chance of making money, or in fact retaining the value of the original investment.

RTFM

The most logical theory known to man is "The Duck Theory".

And this one looks, sounds, and walks like a duck.

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.