55Jay

1 minute ago, tardelli said:

do not make your mind busy with uncessary thinks man ..well i clear again that you stop asking more : i am farang guy and  i fed up Thai ladies because ; you cannot talk with thai ladies about the world;they has non idea  ; everything is not sex for me ..i would like meet in Thailand educated foreign expat ladies and  sometimes talking smart and  share a nice time i only miss this from west nothing more than this.. i like to live in  thailand because its always summer here. i think i better move to phuket or samui. the information says normal tourist are in south. maybe its true. we will see

What age are you looking? 

Woops! 

Don't forget about Iran and the Beach Boys.  

Bomb bomb bomb, Bomb bomb Iran.

2 hours ago, Kabula said:

The world should be very concerned why small fish in the oceans are dying worldwide and why shark deaths and bites are accelerating; some just feet from shore.

 

When the sharks start jumping into boats for food that is the canary in the mine hitting the ground!

How do you know the shark jumped into the boat for food?

Strange incident indeed, certainly out of character from what we know about white sharks, that typically wind up airborne as a natural result of attacking prey from below at high speed.

This appears to be an anomaly, not a trend or indication of anything except, perhaps, confirmation bias on your part.  And that's not me disagreeing with your underlying assertion either.

Don't be too hard on the kiddies. 

Never let a good crisis go to waste. 

There was some talk about turning the lights back on at Korat's idle airport as a maintenance hub, with supporting railway lines for logistics.  Suppose keeping things closer to existing infrastructure makes more sense vs. lugging all the gear up the mountain.  Oh well. 

19 minutes ago, mikebike said:

How does 45's rhetoric re NATO have anything to do with his desire to massively increase military spending as evidenced by his budget or his willingness to green light any military action which will draw light away from any of his blunders? Yeah... libs should love that!!

Which highlights the established trend that 45's rhetoric is often at odds with what he does.  If you don't like this piece of news just wait a week, there will be another along shortly. 

4 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Well, in  an inadvertent way, you've hit on a kind of truth. It's not often acknowledged that the bad economic situation for working class people in the USA makes it easier for the US to recruit soldiers than it is for the Europeans. And the promise of educational benefits - the Europeans have access to better ones without being required to enlist in the armed forces - is another lure for poorer Americans.

Well, it was tongue-in-cheek, very broad strokes.  A strong defense is better but it sure does look like moves by Russia, China, Iran, with N. Korea providing continuous white noise, is shaping up.   

The common refrain has been the US should not be the world's policeman and quit engaging in military adventures.  "Mind your own damn business".  "Fix your own problems at home". 

"US is in decline"  Etc, etc.

Trump's overtures to untangle the US should be embraced by the peace loving liberals, and deplored by war mongering conservatives and their MIC. 

At any rate, Europe has plenty off extra people milling about, so should be able to field a formidable army to repel adversaries, long as it doesn't exceed 37.5 hours a week or interfere with annual holidays, prayer times or afternoon siestas.   

1 hour ago, seminomadic said:

Only slightly off-topic, but I recommend Netflix's series Highland, about herb legalization in Thailand.

No doubt a work of fiction.  555! 

Abandoned!  Poor things, what a shame. 

I should open a tax-free religious mission for homeless, abandoned weed.

LOL, right, I've had the feeling a few times early on here when paying a bill and the waitress/staff wai and say thank you.  Can have a ring of finality to it, especially if they do the over the top bowing and scraping act.  But they've always returned with the change.  Can't say I've ever gotten the feeling at BigC or similar retail place though.

Far as the rental car contract, right, you didn't check but I also get why you might not have if you thought things were going smoothly and the guy's English was pretty good.  Dunno, maybe if things are going too smoothly, that's a reason to pull 'em up by the short hairs and make sure.  Could be an intentional diversion to put us at ease and slip one under the rug. 

I guess that's one (of many) nice thing about having a wife here, at least for me.  I don't get a thrill or cultural satisfaction out of dealing with Thais for business or routine matters.  I let the wife deal with most things now and am still disappointed at how simple, routine tasks can get so fk'ed up. 

Where's old Suthep when we need him.  Suthep, step up, mate, your country needs you in the streets again. 

Anyway, I voted no.  Long as the Thai government's focus is on themselves and not improving the country in any significant way, which doesn't include submarines, then the underlying economics of the trade, will remain. 

As/if conditions improve, fewer women will be willing to be sweated on by some older fat guy.  Those who remain in the game will command a higher price ala supply & demand.  When quick sex costs 3,000 Baht instead of 700~1,000, farangs will shift elsewhere.  Fewer punters, fewer working girls.

Where to?  Dunno.  Seems Cambodia is touted on the internet as being like Thailand was 20 years ago.  Vietnam?  Is PI too much of an American-centric has been?  Maybe that's a good topic for the next poll.  Where will the new SE Asian Red Light Valhalla be located?

3 hours ago, impulse said:

 

The laws could stop it in a heartbeat if they arrested the customers as well as the hookers.  Demand would dry up (or just move elsewhere) after a few name and shame articles back home, plus the added scrutiny of crossing back into the home country after an overseas arrest on prostitution charges shows up tied to the passport.

That would work, not 100% but it would put a good sized dent in it from the "farang" end of the equation once the naming and shaming went viral.   But the approach reminds me of the effort in the War on Drugs, targeting users and street level dealers. 

I've seen your other posts on the thread and right, the shit Thais (and other Asians) get up to here is under-reported.  Farangs shagging unhappy but mostly willing bar girls in Nana, is low hanging fruit.

2 hours ago, stubuzz said:

The money made from sex tourism supports a lot of poor families in the north and north-east. Stopping it would be a major blow to the economy.

And force the Government to acknowledge that as a symptom of the root cause behind it. 

The General/PM finally addresses the elephant in the room, not only with the questions themselves, but how he phrased them; a barely concealed annoyance, talking down tone.

What he's saying is the average Thai doesn't have the capacity to know what is best for Thailand and has no business involved with these complex issues.   The questions are rhetorical, and he expects the average Thai will shrug them off, and be satisfied with letting those of higher status, tend to these difficult issues and decisions.  They continue to line things up so that they have a firm grip on the controls, so might as well get used to it.

Would appear appointing Robert Mueller to carry on investigating all this, is unnecessary. 

LOL, not like doctors and nurses would ever find themselves in a BKK hell hole, downrange from Royal Thai Army's rifles and tear gas......  Oh wait!  

I "get" the idea here but these folks aren't in the military.  Even if they were or were going to be, 2 of 5 days is not enough to achieve "discipline, harmony, and endurance" ; moreover, from a gaggle of civilian medicos who aren't down for this kind of unnecessary shit.   The unprofessional Thai Army NCO Baboons can scream at them until they are blue in the face, you're not achieving anything except maybe get a few of the snowflakes to squirt some tears.  That'll be good for a few laughs at least.

The knobhead in charge quoted in the article is saying, "I had to do it, so do you, so suck it up, buttercup".  Lights are on but nobody's home.  Whether the training is useful or not, is immaterial.

Saw some ugly, red hot storm blobs all around us on Windytv.com but only got a few sprinkles in my corner of Nakhon Ratchasima. Forecast into next week doesn't look very ominous either. 

I know it sounds cynical and this isn't an exact science, but seems we get heavy rain without Met Office warnings, and none, or very little, when they say it's going to hammer down.  

Bravo Zulu to Tillerson for tackling this sacred cow, and further, not giving a s**t about the predictable drama show from the churlish, drum beating MSM. 

American politicos and Diplodunk peacocks need to abandon the pattern of attention seeking behavior to appear "engaged", and to feed their career narcissism. 

Instead, take example from some Arab leaders who simply send a "Cable of Good Wishes" to mark an important holiday or significant date.  No need to get carried away with disingenuous spectacles and awkward "mandatory fun" events. 

Come on, leave these folks alone and let them get on with their holidays with family, friends and peers.   Once the MSM stops shrieking about how terrible it will be if the US doesn't host an Iftar Nosebag..... you'll likely hear a unified sigh of relief from all quarters.

Jeez, this clown is actually trying to get political mileage out of this when people are knee deep in water?   It's one thing to stand up and take responsibility for your actions, or in-actions, but apologizing and taking personal responsibility for rain and subsequent flooding and making it all about YOU, is narcissistic, childish attention seeking behavior.

OK, you feel bad, and understand the people's suffering.  Got it.  Now drop the woe is me pity party, grab a bucket and start bailing, mate.

Nice post, don't often see the "good experience" ones.  I've done 4 or 5 extensions and haven't had any problems with Immi so far.  Thankfully we don't live too far away, so not a problem to stop in a few weeks in advance, say hello and ask if there are any "new" things we should be aware of, get the forms, checklist, etc.   I have had 2 minor glitches in the past but both were down to me forgetting something I otherwise knew about, not an I/O being creative or trying to get one over on me. 

3 minutes ago, Psimbo said:

Errr- they did, a couple of days later.

Oh, ok, missed that one.  Thanks.