cooked

What's up the finger printing? I never had to do anything like that at any time in Thailand and certainly not for my 5 year license..

He was giving me value for money. I do know that there is a little observed regulation that non-Thais should announce their presence at the nearest police station (as well as immigration).

At present I am just shrugging and thinking 'Amazing Thailand'.

That's what I thought, I will run away..

I went to the police station this morning to get confirmation of my address for a 5 year driving license. Ok, we were really early (about 08.30) and had to wait about an hour until the guy turned up, we were treated well in this time.

The guy took a long time in getting my confirmation ready, at the end of all the stuff he was doing he took a foto of me from my wife's wallet, stuck it onto a form and took my finger prints! All ten .. I then signed a lot of stuff as did my wife. ....so I was being put on a file somewhere. He then charged us ฿1000.-, but had to accept the ฿800.- which was all we had (forgot to go to the bank).

What the hell did I do? I don't disagree or dispute things with police officers generally, so I went through with it.

He invited himself to our house for a beer and told us he could get me a lifetime visa extension (no more three monthly reports or applications for extensions) for a 'consideration'. Duuhh... did I get mugged, or am I about to be? Seemed like a nice guy, for a policeman.

If you can't do it by hand then only Glyphosat will work, or putting horrible black plastic on top for a few weeks. I shouldn't be too delicate about using a weed killer just once.

Elbo griess is readily available to combat this kind of thing.

To my simple mind, the Thai mentality on the roads is strongly influenced by habits gained while driving a buffalo cart.

Yawn.. up here in Isaan we will just watch it on TV if it happens

Haha. You think if the army comes in, those up in isaan won't fight them up country? Burn down a few city halls and the rest.

The biggest potential Areas that could blow up is isaan

I don't know all of Isaan, but the guys around here just stoically accept whatever is thrown at them. They are not really conscious of what the fat cats are doing down there in Bangkok.

If you dont think that they are aware of the rice subsidy, you havent been listening!

We are in full rice harvest right now. I can assure that nobody CARES about the rice subsidy, although they are vaguely aware that the small farmer is not profiting from this scheme. They are not worried about the fact that the storage space is running out, they say 'the Chinese will buy, like always'.

I assure that I have been listening, Beetlejuice above has the most astute response as far as I can see.

I wonder where the average Thai Visa user would come in an English proficiency test?

I should look around you to see what neighbours are planting although most of them won't be working on raised land. Look also at market prices, ฿350.-/Kg for pepper corn looks great until you work out how much work it needs.

I had all sorts of innovative ideas before I came here and gave up on most of them. What about Cassava?

We had the wheel trims nicked off our truck parked near Chatuchak market. There is a wheel trim seller very nearby...

Great stuff, keep it coming.

Arctic and Antarctic circles have been studied for decdes - from the 19th century and are a major key to our climate history - locked in the ice and the ground below. If you are unaware of the research at the poles etc then you are not in a position to comment on climate change

I'm not sure 'decades' counts as history.

Especially when the subject, polar ice, covers millennia.

Nobody had been to the South pole until 100 years ago, so it can't have been studied that well.

There are claims the North pole wasn't reached until 1969, even if untrue, it can't have been a popular research location.

Great thinking, batman, who's talking about the North and South Poles? Some of us are talking about the Arctic and the Antarctic, quite large areas on the map you may have noticed. Please google 'ice sheet research' or something like that.

I love mangoes, so no problems for me as long as I live near our mango trees.

Interesting about the piles, exactly the same for me. My arthritis has more or less disappeared but my Asthma stays with me most of the year.

If you dig a hole to plant your tree in then you should fill it back with the original soil. If you fill it back with compost then the hole will fill with rainwater and the roots might start rotting.

Plant the tree on top of the soil and put more soil around the roots (make a mound of dirt) and put mulch on top of that. The tree will send it roots into the soil.

I also read about long stem planting but that works the best for tree's that can easy make new roots out of the stem. Not all tree's can do that. The risk is collar rot on the stem.

I think you are getting to the 'root' of the reason why some people seem to think that heaping up soil over the roots may be beneficial. I do as you say when planting on flat land, if possible. However with the high water table most of us have to cope with, any means of raising the roots out of the general level of the surrounding land has to be better. Many Pappaya trees around here fell over, rotten or just died during recent rains. Ours didn't (yet!).

No harm in putting some compost or manure at the bottom of the mound, not contacting the roots (causing 'burn') and letting, forcing the roots to grow downwards towards this source of nourishment. I always consider mulching as a secondary source of nourishment, but very useful for retaining moisture and keeping weeds down.

sorry, double posting

I didn't read all of the report but obviously young saplings that are still capable of rooting from the stem will be less liable to root rot than older examples (same as I generally plant flower and vegetable seedlings to a depth that just leaves the cotyledon leaves above the surface). Also I see mention of sand dune stabilisation, this again is a lighter soil than you will typically meet up with in Thailand.

Interesting development though.

The OP has just discovered Loi Krathong. Watch this pace for when he discovers that prostitution happens here.

Then wait for his expressions of disbelief when we tell him it's illegal here.(is!)

.. last (and only) longon I planted was on a mound with a 'moat' on top.

25 in the day when we need it, otherwise fan. We once had an electricity bill for ฿800.-. but that was exceptional.

I really like the use of the expression 'free loading'. As far as I am concerned (or was, those days are gone) 'couch surfing' is a two way experience, I met all sorts of interesting people that came to sleep at my place and others that accepted me into their homes for a night or two. If you don't like or trust the guy, you throw him out - no smoking, no drugs, curfew... I really can't see why so much hostility is stoked up by this slightly shy and naive request for a bit of help to get on. I already have an extended family (11) of 'free loaders' living in the immediate proximity so don't see what problem one more person at the table could cause.

Loads ok for me...

no problem loading both pages.

now www. alternet.org isn't working for me although 'down for everyone or just me?' indicates that it is working. Strange stuff going on