theblether

3 hours ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Younger working expat farangs have been dating and marrying university educated middle class Thai women since the 80's and probably before.  

I

Yes,, but numbers have vastly increased in the last decade plus. 

Just now, theblether said:

 

I'll not get into the usual sugarcane/commercial burning arguments - they have been done to death. 

 

Burning is essential for safety reasons in the mountains. One thing people miss/don't know, don't understand is that municipalities end out teams to burn road verges etc. In the mountains, bad enough on main routes such as CM-Pai, the roads in the interior are tight, dangerous and often dreadful condition. One friend was killed as she was washed over a cliff edge in her SUV. With rapid foliage growth, many of these roads are reduced to effective single lane status. If the fire load is allowed to build the villagers would be cut off in the case of a wildfire or similar. 

 

Helicopters, which I see overhead many days during the burning season, would struggle to rescue people due to the terrain. So routine defensive burning is essential and is practised by the villagers and authorities. 

 

Well before the attack on Hot Thep, authorities need to get a grip on open field stubble burning, whatever the crop. They are the open goal awaiting action. The mountains can wait.  

I forgot to mention, I know oil & gas engineers who are looking for solutions on a hobby basis. There are serious people of many nationalities keen to see an end to the burning, or at least to reduce the worst of vagaries. 

32 minutes ago, SamSanuk said:

Thank you, some edification here. 
 

Do you think if there was a way, i.e. greenhouse, that the smoke problem would be noticeably less disastrous? 
 

Or are the mushrooms just a small piece to the smoke puzzle?

I'll not get into the usual sugarcane/commercial burning arguments - they have been done to death. 

Burning is essential for safety reasons in the mountains. One thing people miss/don't know, don't understand is that municipalities end out teams to burn road verges etc. In the mountains, bad enough on main routes such as CM-Pai, the roads in the interior are tight, dangerous and often dreadful condition. One friend was killed as she was washed over a cliff edge in her SUV. With rapid foliage growth, many of these roads are reduced to effective single lane status. If the fire load is allowed to build the villagers would be cut off in the case of a wildfire or similar. 

Helicopters, which I see overhead many days during the burning season, would struggle to rescue people due to the terrain. So routine defensive burning is essential and is practised by the villagers and authorities. 

Well before the attack on Hot Thep, authorities need to get a grip on open field stubble burning, whatever the crop. They are the open goal awaiting action. The mountains can wait.  

I have to commend the OP, this is an all too rare example of standing by a red line issue. 

The marriage is dead. Walk away, don't look back and I wish you a long and successful retirement. 

Pricing - do your own research - the prices I have paid or seen pals pay range from 80,000 baht ( in my case ) to 310,000 baht paid by an American friend. It depends on your grade of hospital, personal medical needs, length of stay etc. You live in Thailand, put in the hard miles and find out for yourself. 

On 4/3/2024 at 8:44 AM, sirineou said:

Go to an area that is interesting to you, and have your wife, or someone who speaks Thai start a conversation with a local , You can praise the food they sell  or something like that, the work into the conversation how you like the area and would like to move there, ask if they know anyone selling a Rai or more, at a  reasonable price, 

 if you are Farang make sure you stay hidden  LOL. We have found and bought two pieces of land that way. 

 

This is the correct way of doing it, drive around then get the Thai national to ask in the local mom and pop store, or village eatery, not in your presence. Jungle drums will start. The last time I was on the periphery of this the land, with a good aspect, that attracted the Thai nationals attention was 650,000 baht a rai. Drumbeat brought an offer of land with the same aspect for 450,000 and the deal was done. In fact, 2.3 rai was purchased at that base rate.  

4 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Had a photo of the wife........ as a kid......tucking into a rat on a stick.

I still see it now but the one that repulses me are the frogs on a stick. Even worse, deep fried whole frog, with the oil seeping out across the plate. Horrendous. 

Who remembers the visa tightening regime re overstay around nine years ago? When automatic bans for overstay were issued. At the time the Thai gov gave people a grace period to sort out their visa status before the policy took effect. One Mae Hong Son resident declared an overstay of twenty-two years at the airport, left for London, and returned with a valid visa. TWENTY TWO YEARS. I know someone personally who is twenty-nine years in Laos without a visa, and he hasn't owned a valid passport for twenty-one years. 

Go with the assumption that a guy who knows he has an arrest warrant in the UK will do anything but draw the attention of UK authorities. Further assume that he knows the risk of overstay but figures every day is a bonus until caught. The only question is why return now? One of my mates surrendered after skipping court ( convicted in absence and sentenced to eight years, drugs and firearms ). Relatively young, he surrendered as he got sick of looking over his shoulder every day. What annoyed me was that he only served an additional four months for skipping before trial.

These people are criminal, they don't think live the way we do. So growling about "passport renewals" and the like is foolish. You assume he had a passport at all. 

14 hours ago, Walker88 said:

LOL

 

I knew a Brit would take exception to AN INTERNATIONAL POLL.

 

It wasn't me. I didn't get asked. It was people from around the world who said the UK has the World's Worst Cuisine.

 

Must be a lot of ignoramuses out there, eh?

 

The people have spoken.

*The ignoramus have spoken. 

Fixed it for you. 

12 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Haven't been to Mexico, huh?

I've lived there, Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. It was Mexicans that informed me of the Tex-Mex issue. Maybe you should go over and correct them , huh? 

I know several cases where the mesh caused ongoing pain. The "take him to England" line was absurd. One the main complaints is cold weather pain. Also, these days I wouldn't like to guess how long you'd wait on a repair, north of six months would be a good estimate. I have one friend who had his mesh replaced after two years, in his case it was straightforward. You'd may as well go to the referral then weigh up the options. I'm always apprehensive about general anaesthetics, though I did find recovery from my two hernia operations to be straightforward. I'd be living with it unless it was debilitating, but for gawds sake, take England out of the equation. 

15 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

I do hear what you're saying. I was the same in regards to blue cheese. Hated the smell of it but once I got over it, then began to enjoy the flavor. 

 

I really like blue cheese now. 

 

It's gonna take some time for fermented fish tho... Maybe I'll be dead before that happens.  Probably just as well! 

I agree with this. Some foods such as venison, game birds, blue cheese etc have a brief period where their taste and your palette collide. The same goes with fermented fish, there's some I can tolerate and others are culinary catastrophes - the type of tase once it enters your mouth it never leaves your mind. For American members, that's how I feel about Chitlins. 33 years later and I'm still scarred.  

17 hours ago, suspectdevice said:

APD is paid by the customer at ALL uk airports. It's another sneaky uk tax. The further the airport is from Heathrow the higher the APD cost. 

Nonsense again. The tax applies to UK airports, the "further you are from Heathrow the higher the APD cost" line is just laughable. Also, every single airline provider provides a breakdown of the fair and tax before you book the ticket. If you can't be bothered reading the "sneaky" tax which is in black and white and in front of your nose then that's up to you. 

12 hours ago, RandolphGB said:

I'm sure that the world's richest airport operator (according to Bloomberg)  will re-invest every single penny of that increase to improve facilities, like the Don Mueang Airport, which is basically a relic of the 1970s. 

 

The extra revenue (millions of baht a month) will definitely not disappear into the coffers of managers and executives. Pig's might fly!

 

Seriously though... there's something seriously flawed in the Thai national mindset at every level of society that they see foreigners as their cash cow. 

Nonsense - Thai domestic flyers have seen an increase of 30%. International passengers have seen an increase of 4%. It's the Thai domestic market that has been relatively hammered. 

23 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

It's cost saving. Savings that can be passed onto customers.

 

In the UK, Lidl and Aldi stock up during the day. Look at their prices. Always lower than other supermarkets. The stores are always busy. It obviously is a business plan that works.

The busiest and most profitable supermarkets in the UK restock all day every day. And here we have a bunch of retail "experts" spouting about "Thai logic" and related drivel. You are making yourselves look so stupid its beyond belief. 

By the way, watch out for the new fashion hitting Thai supermarkets. Several previously 24 hour supermarkets are closing at night as they figure there's no profit ( fair enough ). They also can't get the staff. Some 7/elevens are closing overnight. I never thought I'd see that day.  

I've done both several times. I'd do MHS - Pai, fish cave near MHS, MHS, long neck village, usually elephants on the road down that way, Mae Sariang, cut inland to Doi Inthanon then home down the Mae Wang valley. 

Road to Fang is boring, go via Phrao, catch the sticky waterfall on the way down, Tha Ton, teacup temple, go up Doi Lang to the best moo katter place in Northern Thailand. Doi Mae Salong, early in the morning be at the Golden Horse Temple, before 8am, see the monks ride back from collecting alms, Doi Tung, Chiang Saen, Opium museum, and if you can be in Chiang Saen on a Saturday night there's an excellent night market overlooking the river.   

59 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Let me guess: the attacker was working bar in Taiwan.

The majority of Thais in Taiwan work in factories and agriculture. There are occasional arrests in connection with prostitution but its nothing like the scale in South Korea and Hong Kong ( among others ). 

On 3/22/2024 at 4:10 AM, ChaiyaTH said:

That's just weird, in Europe any girl from 16/17/18 would be dating and doing whatever she wants, with guys who are in their twenties, up to 28-29. Isn't this guy double F'ed too, I heard that an American is also accountable back home if doing this abroad.

US law forbids engaging in sexual activity in a foreign country with under 18 year old's. US law enforcement has a presence and is active in Thailand. This guy will have to answer to US authorities. 

The easiest way to spot fake reviews is by looking at the dates. If there's a cluster over a short time span it's usually fake. That applies to both good and bad reviews.