thedude

thanks for this theblether, i remember many of those posts. those were fun days. i joined in 2003 too but gave up on Thaivisa the past several years as a protest against the editorial bent the site had taken on, it became way too political....

been visiting again recently and i feel like a newbie again.

Good to see you thedude.........OldCroc get's the credit for sending us your way, and I think it's high praise to yourself and many others that you made an impression that lasted.

It's been my delight to read through the old threads, the quality of humour and information contained within is outstanding. I'm only a member like everybody else but I personally find some of the bitterness and trolling hard to watch on our forums.

So I reckon a lot more positive and helpful information from some of our absolutely outstanding contributors, combined with plenty of humour and pathos will encourage even more characters to make an appearance. Happy days for all.!!

ps Thanks for the birthday wishes 23.03.66, so that makes me 46 today, with a mental age of 6.......sounds about right

Happy birthday equinoctial boy

you might have mistaken me for "The Dude", a popular member known for his habbit of referring to himself in the 3rd person. It was annoying that he took the same moniker so we got mixed up occassionally although our interests were on different areas. i remember a rather prolific ladyboy member (can't recall her name) who was also a practicing vet, anyone remember her?

thanks for this theblether, i remember many of those posts. those were fun days. i joined in 2003 too but gave up on Thaivisa the past several years as a protest against the editorial bent the site had taken on, it became way too political....

been visiting again recently and i feel like a newbie again.

I'm told that you can buy actual gold from Singapore banks, they store it for you.

Dosa King on Sukhumvit Soi 11 do very good masala dosas. Most other Indian restos on Sukhumvit are pretty ordinary.

Are there any "Westerntowns" in Thailand?

Interesting question. I guess Thai "Western" food such as steak with pepper sauce, veal schnitzel, and spaghetti bolognese could still be found in some old and almost forgotten cafes along Silom, or Khao San. Can't imagine a Thai expat in the US craving this stuff though.

Iron Fairies on Thonglor serves the best burgers I've tried inb Bangkok.

Thai culture is based on a Patronage system. People collecting "bribes" generally feel this is a benefit or right accrued for having climbed to the appropriate level of influence and power. It has feudal roots. If it stops there, I think most of us would gladly accept it since we also benefit from the convenience. The people most disadvantaged are those at the bottom of the ladder, the poor, the less educated, those without a patron (many foreigners don't have access to a patron too, but most have enough money to circumvent daily problems).

The bigger problem is the lack of Justice. While this in some way is related to the patronage system, there are also deeper religious reasons. A Thai monk (Harvard trained theologian whose name escapes me now) pointed out that the Thai version of Buddhism over-emphasises the notion of Karma. When someone does something bad, society as a whole is more willing to look the other way and leave it to his Karma to take care of it in his next life. Life after all is a temporary passing phase in our spiritual journey. Furthemore, there is a belief that by giving alms, one is able to atone for one's deeds. The more serious the crime, the heavier one pays in alms to make up for the lost Karma.

The scholar monk pointed to the need to emphasise education on other Buddhist principles that place responsibility for the Self to act when something is wrong. It is hoped that proper religious education would engender more activism for social justice.

When we escalate this to a whole society, the feudal/patronage construct, religious beliefs and practices, and the patchwork manner in which Thais try to apply Law and Order (sometimes only superficially or half-heartedly to convince the world that Thailand is modern and progressive), we get this confused and conflicted mess. Will we see change in our lifetimes? I doubt it.

Isn't it just the perk of living in Thailand that we can get away scot free even with Murder?

Surely we must live with the consequences if we choose to live in Thailand? Those who can't accept it have already left.

Anyway, it doesn't matter what most of us think, the story will be twisted out of context until a suitably plausible explanation is profered through the press and media, the parents will not so much be mentioned and it will get swept under the carpet along with all the other unsolved crimes, end of, we move on.

Singaporean wet dream: Buy Phuket Island cheap from corrupted Thai politician.

Well, not really, there is a reason why Phuket is in your Singapore wet dream, because its not Singapore.

If Singapore owned Phuket, it wouldn't be able to keep itself from turning it into well, another Sentosa. Nobody would go there.

why does the nation think this is newsworthy?

Xanax

All About Braising by Molly Stevens, is a collection of recipes from all around the world using my favourite slow cooking method. Anyone who uses a Dutch oven knows, and Molly does a fine job of breaking down the science of braising, and in simple language she presents many traditional recipes as well as more exotic ones from Morocco to Jamaica to Vietnam. The book is not heavy on glossy pictures but once you have read several recipes you realise its value lies in the easy to understand and easy to adapt recipes that you would actually use. 5 Stars

i've taken a ride in the new GT-R about a month ago in singapore, belonged to a friend of mine who paid 250k sg dollars and bought it off a parallel importer. i think 10mb is about right for thailand. i have to say it was an awesome experience, like entering the belly of a beast, but the car felt very very long and not as compact as i expected, the pace is blinding although we didnt get anywhere near a blip of its enormous power going through city roads. i believe its capable of 3.3 seconds, which is faster than a porsche GT3. the onboard computer speaks japanese for the version he got, but the display is really cool, it even breaks down graphically and in real time the braking force, the positive, lateral and negative g's, each turbo's boost, in fact every minute stat you would and wouldn't need. when you drive it like a normal car at road legal speeds it just murmers and keeps shifting down to avoid stalling, which makes for a constant click-clack mechanical sound going on in the background. this is really a track day car and no matter what the media says its feels somewhat awkward on normal roads. it is an awesome beast to behold and giong through singapore streets (a country with no shortage of ferraris and lambos) its interesting that its the guys who turn to look, while the girls look somewhat more confused at its audacity.

For food only, view not anyhting to rave about, but oh so good food...try Cyan at The Met Hotel. Series of small dishes, and many foodies including a few famous chefs rate this as 'up there' quality wise; 4k easy peasy might even get a glass or wine or two for that.

Italian - Zanotti SalaDaeng, Gianni southern style Italian food, Caldarazzo Langsuan all good. None particularly expensive; italian food you'd struggle to get to 4k.

Sirocco and Vertigo strictly for the views; food ok, 4000b might not be quite enough.

Baiyoke is 500b a head buffet and a bit average IMHO, certainly don't go there for the food (or any buffet for that matter) but great view.

Steak could consider the Landmark Hotel used to be called The RibRoom now I think called RRM or something like that; great view and food. Also good for steak is Fireplace Grill at Intercon/Holiday Inn Ratchaprasong. A lot of people like the place in the Marriot; for me I think rather average.

For Thai food the outdoor dining at Oriental and ShangriLa both good; wouldn't have thought 4k would be enough to dine at Normandie.

Seafood a ton of places to choose from; most missing atmosphere. Thai ditto; good food and western style atmosphere don't really go together e.g. cabbages and condoms I consider the food to be almost as bland as eating english boiled muck, but foreigners love the taste and the atmosphere is pretty good.

a good lay of the land steve, with the exception of the Fireplace Grill. the last time i was there i couldn't find a single wait staff, including the manager, who could tell me where the meat came from. if i'm paying 2000 baht for a piece of meat, i'd want to know its breed, where it came from, how long was it aged, what it was fed, they couldn't even verify if it was graded USDA prime, choice or select. as it turned out, i was underwhelmed by the meat. a place that specializes in steaks should at least be able to tell of its origins, i find the lack of info highly suspect. its a make-belief steak house for people who just want to be impressed with the ambience.

i'm kind of late to this thread so firstly Mobi congrats on your decision and welcome to the bimmer club.

i have an E90 325i which i've been driving since 2006, its been over 2 years now and i am happy to report that i have had very few problems apart from an electrical problem last year which completely disabled the central locking system. the bmw agent gave me a replacement 5 series while they spent the better part of 1 week sorting it out, the problem with bimmers is everything is computerised and if you have an uncommon problem, they need to get a specialist down to the workshop to run diagnostics, which could take a while to sort out.

anyway, the car drives beautifully and the in-line 6 runs honey smooth, and its not just the responsiveness, its the whole balanced handling and chasis dynamics that makes the driving experience feel so 'together'. i still love driving the car after 27 months. build quality is good and there are no clangy bits. put it through a car spa and it comes out looking like new, not sure if a honda would hold up as well.

the only thing i am not too happy about is the ride which is quite stiff and the run flat tires are very hard, which can be quite jarring on bangkok's uneven roads. i've been thinking of trading up to a 5 series but the E60 is already towards the end of its model life so maybe i'll wait another year or 2 for the new 5. i'm a bit lost since my engine already puts out 218 hp, any more and pricing will move to the next tax bracket, but i cant imagine driving a 5 series thats less powerful than my present 3 series, so maybe i'll have to fork out quite a bit more for a 530 or 535 when the new model comes, its like a really expensive habbit.

anyway, let us know how your new car turns out, and drive carefully.

i know that many 5 star spas operating in Dubai, Egypt etc have been poaching professional massauses from Thailand's luxury hotels like the Four Seasons, The Oriental, Hyatt etc. i say this from experience, my favourite massause was stolen from the Shambala spa at the Metropolitan Hotel and she now works in the Four Seasons in Cairo. you may want to head-hunt from these hotels if you want no-nonsense professional spa technicians.

we have 134 votes out of 57,923 members...too soon to be making conclusions.

are moderators the equivalent of super-delegates?

The below came out of the AFP newswire reported on CNA. Another bizarre murder? Surely they won't go swimming with a torn piece of their passport?

BANGKOK: Twin sisters from South Korea have been found dead on a beach near Thailand's famous Pattaya resort town, local police and the South Korean foreign ministry said Sunday.

The women, aged 27, had apparently drowned, and police are investigating whether it was murder, a double-suicide or an accident, said Lieutenant Colonel Sumeth Harnvisai.

"Initial forensic reports indicate that there were no wounds on the bodies, and the water found in their lungs suggests they drowned," he told AFP.

The bodies were discovered near each other on Lan Island off the coast of eastern Thailand early Friday morning, he said. A page ripped from a passport found near the bodies indicated they were South Korean.

Seoul's foreign ministry later identified the women as Park Ji-Hee and Park Mi-Hee. They gave no other details.

Pattaya is one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations, but also has a seamy reputation for crime rings, sex tourism and hedonism.

Two female Russian tourists were found shot dead and slumped in deckchairs on a Pattaya beach last year. - AFP/ac

If foreigners are going to be allowed to own the lions share of a factoring company, does this mean that they will have ultimate control on Thailand's debtors and that for those in Thailand who owe money either for goods or services may be directly accountable to foreign investors (factoring companies) for their payments of debt owed.

For example, a Thai purchases some land with a bank loan. The Thai for whatever reason cannot complete payment of the loan, so the bank sells the debt to a majority foreign owned factoring company. The end result is that the land falls into the ownership of a foreign owned company.

Wasn't this the same scenario why Mr Thaksin was thrown out of office in the first place?

OK, can someone please tell me if I have got the above correct or not?

i think factoring applies to businesses with an ongoing revenue stream which sells its rights to the revenue stream for some cash upfront, with a discount rate factored into the upfront payment. the factoring company essentially buys the accounts receivables and are taking a risk on the business and quality of its debtors. factoring applies to trading concerns, whereas for property deals, a similar type of fund raising would involve asset securitisation whereupon the funding party would hold a sort of mortgage on the entire asset with an unrealised income stream, like a sort of mezzanine financing, and this would require it to have other banking/finance licenses which is actually an entirely different kettle of fish.

The Last Life In The Universe[/i] in which the main character is a Japanese guy working a Japanese language library in Bangkok. So, if groups are strong in number there perhaps I won't have to travel all the way to say Beijing or Toyko to get the sources I need, thus while I research my wife and children can stay with her family.

OMG i just watched "Last Life in the Universe" a few days ago. Great movie, and yes there are a lot of Japanese in this town, probably the biggest Expatriate segment from any country. I spoke to a Japanese executive about a year ago, and his estimate is there are about 50,000 to 60,000 Japanese living in Bangkok alone. I am not surprised, just venture into the maze of Sois between Sukhumvit 23 and 55 and you will see what i mean, almost all the shops in that district have signs in Japanese. There is even a Japanese Village in Soi Prasanmit and also the Fuji Supermarket in Soi 33/1 and all the Japanese restaurants, bakeries, bookshops that cater to that community. The Japs have been here in large numbers since the 70s and many executives come back to retire, and why not, its cheap, great golf courses year round, good food and many Thais speak Japanese too.

The Koreans also have their niche around Soi 12 where a congregation of Korean restaurants operate within a single building complex. I think the Koreans are more on the even-side of Sukhumvit and also further out in the burbs around Bangna and closer to their factories. There are however quite a few Korean establishments on the odd-side like barbecue restaurants, karaokes on Soi 11, and even a Korean butcher on Soi 23.

While the Chinese settled near the Chao Praya and the Palace, the Indians/Sikhs settled further inland at Sukhumvit. Sukhumvit was originally an Indian/Sikh district, thats why they have streets named Nana and Asok which are old family names of the major landowners there. The northern Indian community has existed in Bangkok for a very long time, originally they were mostly merchants in textiles (look at all the tailors) and jewelry but these days many have diversified into industry and most commonly in real estate. Most of the hotels, serviced apartments, and apartment blocks in lower Sukhumvit belong to Indian families. They are extremely wealthy but generally keep a low profile and mix among themselves.

The textile and jewelry trade, originally handled by Indian and Chinese merchants, are increasingly being populated by Africans these days, which is why you start to see a thriving African community around Sukhumvit 3-5, and also in the traditional Chinese jewellery neighbourhood in Bangrak/Silom there are lots of old offices and whole blocks of apartments being occupied by African merchants.

i think the governator did a good job. no one is immune to corruption allegations while in office.

while he failed to solve traffic problems in bkk, he did at least plant lots of trees to give us something to look at while our cars are stuck in gridlock, and where we would previously be tripping over ourselves on those uneven pavements, now with even more street vendors and new government installed plants, we needn't even consider perambulating the dangerous sidewalks of bangkok, hence his contribution to pedestrian safety cannot go unsung.

just goes to show what a difference a Harvard-educated, ex-pepsico executive can make to this great city of ours if just given a chance.

hurry back Apirak, you will be missed.

So you don't like the BRT going to Rama 3 (launching mid July), you don't like the BTS extensions (blocked by TRT but finally able to be completed by the BMA once TRT were out), you don't like the Monday street clean up concept (no stalls), you don't like the improved flood prevention and planning, you don't like the improved marketing of Bangkok which has started to increase Bangkok's profile for tourism, you don't like the improved city planning that is encouraging more green spaces and preventing illegal building, you don't like the elimination of polystyrene for loi kratong?

He's not be great for sure, but compared to his predeccessor, at least he has done something other than a cooking show, some harebrained underground parking schemes and a variety of corrupt business deals.

gosh steve, no need to be so defensive, i had nothing but the handsomest prasies for the governator. just like him, his policies always have a nice appearance. i know how difficult it is. by the way, why is Rama III only getting a BRT and not the BTS? i heard a total of 0 (zero) tenders were received to construct the BRT system, thats why its been delayed, wassup with that, is Apirak refusing to share the love? as for the "bangkok city of life" murals painted under the skytrain tracks, i'm sure thousands of awe-struck tourists are quietly marvelling at the cool, fast-paced and progressive city they have found themselves in.

i think the governator did a good job. no one is immune to corruption allegations while in office.

while he failed to solve traffic problems in bkk, he did at least plant lots of trees to give us something to look at while our cars are stuck in gridlock, and where we would previously be tripping over ourselves on those uneven pavements, now with even more street vendors and new government installed plants, we needn't even consider perambulating the dangerous sidewalks of bangkok, hence his contribution to pedestrian safety cannot go unsung.

just goes to show what a difference a Harvard-educated, ex-pepsico executive can make to this great city of ours if just given a chance.

hurry back Apirak, you will be missed.

"Four Floors" is like going to Villa Market but limiting yourself to the stuff they are trying to liquidate because it's nearing its sell-by date (only not exactly the same because it's 2-3 times pricier than the fresh stuff). Doesn't even compare to HK where at least they have S141.

You must be looking at different stuff on the shelves to myself

Or you must be easily pleased

I agree with Heng, except to say that the product on offer, in the main, is PAST its sell by date

Beleive me I am not easily pleased - far from it

Ther may be a few old hags come down from Thailand at the end of their career but in the main there is a lot of very nice PRC, Viet and Flippers about.

There is a market for every product. There are guys who apparently think the bars at Nana, Cowboy, Patpong (AND Four Floors apparently), are full of fresh talent. Quality wise (of which age is only one component), IMO one never finds it as good as at the source, whether you're talking about gals from Shanghai, Saigon, Manila, or Prague. Now if we're talking about SG gals, sure, Singapore is the best.

i may have to disagree with you on that one Heng. in my last few years in Bkk many of the prettiest girls of the ahem, entertainment industry, that i have come across have spent some time in Sg, so many in fact that it hardly surprises me anymore to hear of their varied experiences. the vast majority of them do not do the "4 Floors", but are on more private arrangements involving agents and hotels, either that or they do the volume business at Geylang....its the easiest way for them to make a quick couple of million baht and retire back to their home town and open a salon or whatever.

i have come across many who wish to go but did not "make the grade" because the agents are very particular due to the high level of competition from China, Vietnam, and elsewhere...if they aren't sure of the turnover potential, they won't take the risk of taking them over to Sg, so only the best looking make it across.

this observation checks out with many of my friends from Sg, mostly professionals in finance and law, who used to come here quite often, but they are now generally less enthusiastic about entertainment in Bkk due to other options when they travel and also because, according to them, they get more variety in Sg and even the Thai's there are better looking. i suppose the 4 Floors is a bad representation of what is actually out there in Sg. i have seen some bizarrely beautiful women there in the Karoake scene, like 6 ft tall northern Chinese with green eyes, supermodels from Hanoi, statuesque songstresses from Guangdong...you get the picture.

So many people say that S'pore is dull, I do wonder how well they know the place, or if they have ever been. Thanks to Captain Chaos for some good posts.

There has and still is plenty of variety for night life. Clarke Quay, Roberston Quay,Emerald Hill, Boat Quay,Mohammed Sultan, St James, Orchard Towers, all those other places like B -One, Thumper, Bricks etc in the hotels, Geylang, Holland Village and lots of other places dotted around the place, Zouk, Velvet etc, etc. It easy to get to most of the places as the MRT coverage is excellent, and getting a taxi at night although more expensive than BKK, you certainly aren't going to have negotiate or have any hassle from the drivers and they always have change. PLaces stay open a dam_n sight later, I was out until 4.30 in B-one on Friday night and followed that up with another late night watching football and rugby before tucking into some decent Thai food at the end of the evening. A good range of beers available, and although more expensive far if you know where to go, there are some fairly resonable places around, ICB has been a favourite of mine since the mid 90's (great range of beers and the chicken wings and pizzas are great), alongwith a few pints of Guiness in Muddy Murphy's right next to the infamous OT, which although people have said is a dump is still a great place to have a bit of fun and have a few beers.

Anyway, I've been going to S'pore since 1990 on a regular basis, and I still love the place, and I can't think of a better place to live and work with the right employment package.

OMG do i miss ICB and yes their chicken wings are fantastic! Also miss the frozen margaritas at No.5 emerald hill. Great post Mr Toad, i haven't lived in Sg now for 5 years and your post really did bring back some good old memories.

Does anyone know if the old Mitre Hotel is still there? Anyone whose been to the Mitre knows what night life is all about in Sg.

Apart from the 4 floors, theres also another building down Orchard that operates like a little Ginza, or perhaps the Thaniya of Sg, we used to go there for really good Ramen noodles late at night and watch the wild life.

Is Thai Visa's relationship with The Nation affecting its ability to be politically neutral?

Are certain members of ThaiVisa actually working for The Nation?

The frantic adherence to copyright policy is otherwise very admirable.