Travelman868

Next to it was the even cheaper Song Sam -Bt271 and 40 per cent proof.

Lovely writing! What is this?

I agree that the taxes on alcohol don't make any sense to me. They do drive people, especially lower-income groups, to drink "the hard stuff" because there's a financial incentive to do so. Go sit on any beach chair and watch the Thai men. Do the same at any bar frequented by Thais. It's always a bottle of whiskey, ice, and mixers. While most Thai men I know do like to drink beer, they tend to drink more whiskey than beer. The argument that people should be encouraged to drink less spririts and more beer seems like a valid first step for me. These number are astounding if 70% of the population actually does abstain.

It's no wonder that Thai's drink whiskey. 1 bottle of whiskey 6 soda's and ice total = about 300 baht or 7 large bottles of beer 300 baht. No contest

My idea was to treat myself - verify everything was OK - and then get medicine for her.

The employee at the clinic recommended that I add in an additional medication to treat the girl.

But now I am stuck waiting and waiting, after medication that did not work, and negative test results.

Go to normal Thai hospital ask at reception for the STD clinic. You will have to register which takes a little time and of course pay for treatment but this cost is very little.

You have to accept that there is not much privacy but if you see anyone you know they have the same problem so no worry. As for the girl friend, tell her to wear

a disguise. A pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap will do the job. You will see a number of Thai's at the clinic in disguise as they deal with HIV as well.

If your girl will still not go then dump her.

Why do the drivers continue to attempt to drive forward rather than give room for the ducks to pass most quickly?

Because they are Thai drivers. Rather than wait 2 minutes they will push until stuck and spend 2 hours in a traffic jam, same everywhere.

What happens if he was to sell the house that is now no longer affordable, (neither are all the other loans really).

This effectively means stopping the home loan early, to me this is the most practical thing actually. He thinks that he still has to pay out what would have been the entire loan that is just rediciouls and totally in-practical. He said this is why so many people in Thailand just walk away from loans and then let the banks clean up the mess with foreclosures.

Surely if you sold your house 6 years into a 30 year loan, the may a little fee or what ever, the bank gets first dibs on the sale of the principle that you originally borrowed, but surely it is nuts to say that you owe the bank 24 years of interest you would have paid.

Sounds fishy to me.

Most loans in Thailand have all the interest added at the outset and will not give a rebate if paid off early. Thai's are not particularly good at repaying loans, this is

why the loan sharks shoot some defaulters as an example.

As for the friend I would not pay off the debts. Why!!!! because you will be dumped as soon as the debts are paid

If "fairness" is the issue here, based on the fact that people have paid full N.I. contributions over a lifetime (or less) of work in the UK, why is it that, although I still have to pay full UK tax on my total income at the age of 73, I am denied the annual increases to my State Pension, which I would get were I to live in any one of the EEC countries, simply because I now choose to live in retirement in Thailand.

How am i expected to manage on a fixed State Pension, if I live for (say) another 15 years? That would be 23 years with no increase!

A letter to my former constituency MP in the UK and one direct to the Prime Minister's office produced almost identical replies. In answer to my question as to whether the system was FAIR, they both replied that the question had been raised on two occasions with the European Court and on both occasions the Court had ruled that the UK Government "WAS NOT BREAKING THE LAW". So that's all right then? It had never occurred to me that they might be breaking a law which they themselves had made, but I had asked if it was FAIR and not if it was LEGAL.

Is there any chance that this too will be reviewed during my lifetime? I hope they hurry up because I am not feeling too good.

You could go back to the UK every 10 years and stay for 6 months. Tell the pension dept and they should put you on the current rate, then go back

to Thailand

I see loop holes in this statement and my trust in the British government is at an all time low.In my home town they can not afford to keep the street lights on of evening and dont get me started on the audit of the disabled under the guise of benefit reform.It seems every time we get a statement proclaiming a new policy for the benefit of the people its because they have a doozzy of a reform just around the corner, give with one hand and take with the other.

I hope I am wrong but as always i will remain a cynic.

You can't go around carrying chips on your shoulder all the time.

I am happy to put cynicism on one side and applaud this announcement. I am equally happy to believe that it will come to fruition - it has passed far enough through the system.

As well as offering a rightful option for British expats, I also hope it means that free treatment is denied to immigrants until they have 'qualified'.

It's worth remembering that some of us still pay UK tax as well as having paid into the system for 40 years.

The problem with the NHS is that it has to provide free treatment if you turn up at casualty.

Post Office...really ? Wow. Imagine taking your motorbike into a post office in the Uk or any other Western nation. I am sure mailing a motorbike there would be

out of the question : staff would just laugh and say ' You nuts or what?'

Thai Post is brilliant. I sent my PCX from Udon Thani to Pattaya 4 days 2500 baht and they wrap it.

Hospital ?

A comfy cell with steel bars would have been more appropriate!

Followed by a court appearance, a huge fine and deportation.

I think your being a bit harsh, unless your one of those who showers with their pants on.

Now there is a simple reason why David appeared without his clothes. Canada is very cold most of the time so "little David" likes to hide, Thailand being

far warmer " little David" became Big David and he wanted to strut his stuff.

argh kids and their guns.....

I understand the Femoral artery passes through the groin but unless you have a HUGE penis that needs the extra supply shooting off just your balls should

not have been fatal. Bearing in mind there was help in hand seconds after the shot.

An excellent place yes, but it is not possible to "send" anyone there. They have to voluntarily choose to go.

Re prior poster who recommended breaking from your partner, I have to agree that unless s/he chooses to seek help, this is what you should do. Things are going to get very hairy and unpleasant otherwise, maybe even dangerous. You can always leave the door open for reconciliation later if your partner agrees to get help getting off the drug but unless/until then, you really are best advised to put some physical and emotional distance between you.

I have to agree with Sheryl, anyone on Yaba can be dangerous to all around them. Makes no difference if boy or girl, even if small in body they can

and will do damage.

If your friend does not want to come off this drug then you have no choice but to go on your way. If there is a desire to get clean then by all means

give support BUT take care.

Leave him alone, their species have been able to feed themselves for millions of years without help from the white man

He's called a Jing Juk

Totally agree, they grow big enough as it is. You feed it and it get to 3foot long not funny

She drives me to distraction with her washing machine quirks.

Putting ridiculous amounts of conditioner in so everything smells nice even though nothing is washed properly and everything has streaks due to cramming the machine full.

Then leaving the washing in the machine for a couple of days to fester before hanging it out.

She will then put the dried clothes in the dirty laundry basket instead of the clean basket and the whole process starts again.

As for ironing....well i do it myself.

It feels good to get this off my chest on here and air my dirty linen in public.

What's ironing ??????????

I give my washing to lady in shop, she comes to house to pick up and drop off 250 baht for big load. I'll have to ask her if she know's about

this ironing thingy.

She do good job even socks are smooth and flat

autos are most suited for bkk IMO

if gas is a concern a semi auto with gears will use less fuel but for convenience nothing beats a twist and go

esp when carrying loads of shoping and stuff .........

Auto every time, no gears just a belt and pullies nothing to go wrong. Belt lasts for ages

highly recommend Honda PCX

At a loss as to what to make of this, while I think yabba/ice is absolute vomit and has no place in civilized society I'm not sure a 50+ year war on drugs has done anything but make the situation worse. Jails are fuller and more people are dead, what was it Einstein said about repeating the same actions and expecting different results........

What would you have the authorities do, just let the drugs in.

I think if you had first hand knowledge of this drug and had seen the effect on a normal easy going person, you may think different.

I do note that NON of the security personnel were killed or injured so no warning given to crooks

All Hunky-dory then.

Lets keep the SOE, going.

Chalerm will be happy.

11% thought protests were violent so 89% were totally thick.

All Hunky-dory then.

Lets keep the SOE, going.

Chalerm will be happy.

11% thought protests were violent so 89% were totally thick.

My advice, let your g/f do what she wants with HER OWN money, do not get invloved.

Your g/f will always be the nong in the pee/nong status of her colleagues.

If they havent even agreed on how profits should be split dont get invloved, is your g/f leaving herself open to being exploited by being the "juniour" partner?

Thais know better than we farangs on how these things work.

Junior partner paying for 33.3% of set up Hmmmmm The 2 other partners are a couple Hmmmmmmmmm

The problem in Thailand is that any of the people involved can steal the money and the remaining "partner" is left responsible.

There is no protection as everyone has to have access to the money.

I helped a friend start a restaurant, I only put in about 10,000 baht. It was started because the house where we lived used to be a restaurant.

As we lived there the rent was free. All went well for about 3 months they earned some money and replaced the drink stock that was used.

THEN they went on a spend up using most of the spare cash and could not afford to buy the drink. It lasted about another 2 months and

then closed.

They took no notice of my advice until they realised I was not going to give them more money.

If I had been able to control the money, by now they could have had a business giving them a good living.

Keep strong PM good luck Yingluck

I don't support any party in Thailand however it seems to me that the present Government is a victim of it's own folly.

Before the election they promised a tablet for every child and a 50% increase in minimum wage. Then they promised

the rice farmers a big guaranteed price for their rice.

The rice price if I remember correctly was higher than the world market was willing to pay, so the rice is either still

in storage or has been sold at a loss.

The PM cannot blame the money shortage on paying for the tablets because they have not been given or paid for, in

fact the only thing that has happened is the increase in the minimum wage which the government did not have to pay for.

Of course all this increase did, was to put more people out of work, it did not effect Hi So or Mid So people only

Lo So, who are the ones supporting Yingluck.

It makes no sense for the Lo So's to support anyone.

The people of Thailand deserve better.

One way to help regular citizens, would be to change the stupid business laws. At present a Farage cannot own and control

a S/ME business without giving control of the money to a Thai person. So a Farage invests 1 million baht in starting a

business employing 10 Thai people. Then the Thai "partner" takes all the money and goes away 10 people back out of work.

BUT it is not just that, it's losing an opportunity to see how to grow a small company. In most European countries S/ME companies

are the ones who employ most people. They are the backbone of the economy, lots of entrepreneurs employing millions.

There used to be 3 ice rinks in Bangkok and they had Ice Hockey teams

Yes, and it also demonstrates the poor design of the roads here. U-turns everywhere, and many without even a turning lane, so you have a line of stopped traffic in the fast lane, Great Idea!

As for this accident, we will never know who was really at fault, the cement truck driver, not giving a turn signal, maybe no lights at all; or the pick up driver, that wasnt looking where he was going, and maybe speeding.

Speed was obviously a major factor.

Perhaps also faulty break lights on the truck.

Many locals seem to have no idea how dangerous the conditions and other users are here on the roads. The result: Thailand is number 3 in the World for fatal accidents, and I cannot foresee them improving their driving any time soon.

Go slow, go safe, and make sure everyone in the vehicle has their seatbelt on before you start the engine.

I've driven most places in Thailand except for the South. It would be most unusual not to have a slip road for a U turn. Sometimes they are a bit short but

there is slip most times.

I don't believe Thai drivers, drive particularly fast. Keeping to 100/110kph on main highway and it will not often anyone will try to pass.

Not unusual at all. People don't want their money to disappear into the the shin clan pockets via the rice scam.

I'm amazed that Thai banks hold that amount of cash 10 million =£200,000

Go to a UK high Street bank and try to withdraw £20,000 without notice and they will tell you they do not hold the funds,

except MAYBE Monday morning.

Narathivat is a nice little muang. I would not chance it in Yala and Patani. I would not fear bring targeted, as farsng or myself. I get on well with Muslims, my Bahasa is better than my Thai.

Still, it's the random bombs and you just don't know what kind of stupid lurks in peoples heads.

We all know that the reason there are insufficient teachers in the South is because of the Islamists. These people do not want the kids to be educated.

Yes, but if they made an excellent job of it to start with, then they wouldn't be called back to repair it in 6 months time and thus get paid again.

I presume this is a replacement for a village red road. Ahh by excellent job do you mean something like the multi billion ££ M25 in the UK

they have been repairing and extending it from the day it was opened.

Most of the red roads upgrades are carried out to a good standard. BUT sometimes it is the house owners who do the job and they have limited money.