55Jay

3 hours ago, sandemara said:

What an OT reaction from the army. The best trainers know you have to blood greyhounds if you want them to win races. You need to be confident the troops will do their best when the necessity arises.

The troops do their best alright.  It's often against their very own people. 

I generally use consolidators to screen prices and options, then pop over to the hotel website to see if they've got any promotions or special offers running.  I did find one place in Jomtein recently that made a point of saying they prefer direct bookings, and their rates were less than Agoda - but not by much.  Usually that's not the case, at least in my exp.

I follow the direct rule when it comes to airlines though.  Use consolidators to screen fare prices and route options, then buy direct from the airline website, even if the fare is a bit higher.

4 hours ago, madusa said:

Where is this coffee house I wonder? I love cats would like to pay a visit to this coffee house, anyone knows the address? In Bangkok?

Didn't you read the article?

24 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Well, he's the one who isn't using Dirty Tricks to win:

<Massive Picture Removed for space>

 

 

Quite frankly, he doesn't seem equipped to think in layered strategy.  His strategy thus far appears to be Open Mouth, Insert Foot, time after time for a year without seeming to learn a damn thing.  I wuz lookin' at a Newt Gingrich interview last night, he basically shrugged his shoulders and said he's got no fk'ing idea what Donald's doing.  Won't listen.  Doesn't care.  It's no wonder the media bobble heads draw the conclusions they do about alternative motives and end game.

But I do agree, it's an equally sad fact that Clinton isn't totally creaming him at this point.  Time will tell but I suspect many of these fence sitters will, once they get in the voting booth, hover over Trump box then exhale and murmur, "Shit, I just can't do it", and check the box for Clinton or, god forbid, Gary Johnson. 

Trump got the nomination, apparently record number of votes too. 

Another record he's set is the sheer absence of endorsements by former (R) presidents, candidates and a growing list of party and office holding public officials.  They aren't just cool on him.  They've disowned him.   Newt Gingrich won't defend him with much gusto anymore, stymied at Trump's refusal of learned political strategy advice.  KellyAnne looks like she's sucking on a lemon.   You have to win and get in before you can do or change anything. 

Having followed Trump early on but no longer, IMV, his adherents stick with him not for his foolish and vague policy positions, rather they relish the spectacle of Trump "sticking it to the man".  He's their lighting rod and Trump reads and plays them like a violin, and can get them cheering or Boo'ing and jeering virtually on command.  His rallies and to some degree, the last debate, smacks of one of those (fake) WWE professional wresting matches between the Junk Yard Dog and his silicone boob'ed girl friend side kick, against the evil Master of Disaster.   An embarrassing spectacle on the world stage.

I tend to agree with the chatter boxes, Trump is on trajectory to lose but is setting himself up to be a fringe media carnival barker.  I predict his mate, Alex Jones, won't be singing praise once Trump becomes a major competitor in the same rice bowl.

Maybe so, but the irony and shades of hypocrisy wrt their attacks on Hillary Clinton, ought to make them blush.  Surely Melania, a willing plagiarist, has to see the similarities here....

Thanks for the heads up.  I use Agoda, last time about 2 months ago, didn't see anything different so changes must of been since then.  I'll check it out.  Thanks.

5 minutes ago, Broken Record said:

 You really ought to be a detective.

Besides solving this not so mysterious case , my powers of deduction informed me somebody would comment as you have.  So congratulations, you're the winner!

Seriously though, this one isn't that hard to figure out based on precedent.  We may never get a follow up but I would put odds my conclusion is correct, or pretty dam_n close.

Soft/female partner wanted to leave the relationship, probably had a new person already.  Tom got angry/jealous, killed her, was trying to cover it up but was overtaken by the sheer immensity of what she had done.....and went for a flight. 

I can see the logic.  She may attract some of these still undecided voters, as well as peel off some homeless independents and disillusioned Trump supporters. 

Trump has his core base, they aren't going anywhere, but I doubt he's adding very many new faces to his crowd.  He's not really campaigning at this point.  He's just holding pep rallies with the home team.

OP, would you buy a house for a GF in your own country?  What about after 7 years?

I suppose the answer could be yes or no.   In either case, you'll have answered your own question.

3 hours ago, Silurian said:

 

Ouch, ouch, ouch! When the money dries up, so does the campaign. It is over Donald. Best to hope for is to save some face in the debate (if you show up) and plan for that media company you and Roger will debut after the election.

Speaking of money, Trump is out on Facebook stumping for bucks.  

Interesting Clinton/Trump comparison snap shot from the FEC site.  Shocked by the Clinton campaign debt at the bottom of the page.  Is that real? 

http://www.fec.gov/disclosurep/PCandCompare.do

This constant re-calibration of the shit falling out of the hole below Trump's nose, has gotten old. 

It's a predictable pattern at this point. When Donald Trump gets himself into a jam, he defaults to this "rigged against me" victim schtick.   He actually called himself a victim at his Florida rally the other day.  Said he doesn't need this krap but is willing to endure it for all of us.   A martyr. 

He transformed, briefly over the weekend, into a stoic figure with gravitas, and delivered a coherent speech (off the teleprompter).  Said he wants to rise above the mud slinging and talk about "the issues".    Soon as he believes he's got himself out from behind the power curve, he goes right back to flame spraying and talking nonsense and conspiracies, egged on by the likes of Anne Coulter and that douche at InfoWars, Alex Jones.  Edit: and Sean Hannity over at Fox.

If Trump didn't have his own plane, forced to fly commercial, would he have added his voice to the chorus against TSA's physical search of passengers?  Given his wealth and celebrity status, I suspect he would be against having his own ass and balls felt up by some minimum wage peasant.  

It's an interesting role reversal.  Trump wears his wealth and celebrity like a cop wears a badge.  He boasts cavalierly that it provides him a level of power, privilege and the ability to cross normal boundaries.   He's no different than a rogue cop, acting under the color of authority, using it as leverage to exploit those in compromised positions.     A dirty cop might brag to someone he/she thinks is "on side", just like Trump did to Billy Bush.   "...and I can get away with it because I'm a cop star". 

Another interesting hypocrisy is the revelation with Hillary's secret comment about having 2 positions.  1 public.  1 private.

Donald's public position on groping hot chicks is 180 out from his private position. 

I tend to go along with the private, unfiltered ones because they are usually closer to the truth.

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Because he's been such an unguarded public figure, they've got thousands of hours of the equivalent of game films they're poring over, replaying again and again, looking for his hot buttons.  They have psychologists and focus groups looking for the exact turn of phrase that will put him off his game.  They're looking at facial expressions, body language, micro expressions.

 

To you and me, it looks like he's erratic.  That's their goal.  That's what they get paid $$ millions to do.

Yes, of course, I get that, it's a campaign, that's what happens. 

Trump has turned down the professionalism, and turned up the dirt early on.  He set the tone, made some critical strategic and tactical errors, and it's biting him in the ass.   He should of known it would.  If he didn't then he's not as smart as he says he is.  If he was told by his advisors to be careful, and ignored them because he knows better, or simply can't control himself, that's not good either. 

Gotta go push the trolley around BigC and Makro, see ya'all later.  Have fun.

6 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

This video sums it all right up:

Donald Trump: "A moment of reckoning."

 

 

100% spot on. 

 

I didn't know much about Trump beyond the name.   The thing that captured my interest initially, and maybe thousands of others, was that 1988 Oprah interview.  I'm not ashamed to say it put the hook in me.  Not 100%, I'm not that easy, but enough to be interested in what he was on about now, all these years later.  Same way I gave others like Ross Perot, Rand and Ron Paul and even Bernie Sanders, an ear.

Trump lost his rudder along the way, perhaps at life in general, but in this campaign specifically.  Only now, when the chips are down because he's been roundly beaten at the mud slinging contest HE started so foolishly, he finally acquiesces to his campaign political team, and delivers this kind of speech (attached by Boon Mee). 

Had he spoken and conducted himself like this all along and stayed away from Alex Jones' nutter talking points, I would probably still be with him and in turn, he would be wiping the floor with Hillary Clinton's arse.  

He's just far too erratic and undisciplined.  I'm not influenced by any of Hillary's moves to capitalize on Trump's gaffs.  It's unnecessary, Trump is his own worst enemy and that's not a ringing endorsement for such a smart guy.   All the titillating  stuff piling on now, as unsubstantiated as some of it might be still, establishes and reinforces the pattern.

Maybe the Iraqi Army and the Shia fighters, have improved since March this year. 

Iraqi Army Flees Mosul OP.

13 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

Seth Meyers again hits the proverbial nail on the head. . . . . .

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNs0J062SJE

You think Trump is going to show for the 3rd debate? 

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Blame the GOP for being so bereft of any decent candidates that Trump was all the people had to vote for. They have been exposed as being without any good side, just like the Dems establishment.

No doubt.  Starting to understand why George Carlin, near the end of his life, said he had pulled his head in and chose to be a mere spectator.  

Although I live in Thailand, my fear is the electorate is more seriously fractured and disillusioned this time around, exacerbated by Obama, a man on a mission to beat the clock, pushing some significant paradigm shifts through hot and heavy this past year;  upsetting a lot of staunch, conservative apple carts. 

Trump rode in on a wave of anger, and will go out the same way, leaving scorched earth in his wake.  If the down ballots don't favor Dems, Clinton will be hard pressed to get a fart passed in Congress.  Expect we'll see more edicts and executive orders.

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

Was he supposed to say yes? If he did that every lawyer would be looking to sue him on their behalf.

None of it matters anyway. As soon as the tape came out he was doomed.

I just want him to go down fighting and exposing her for the bad person she is.

Of course not, that would be telling the truth <sacrc>.  LOL   

I suspect the end state you suggest would have been the inevitable end state had he said Yes or No. We'll probably be reading about these civil cases for a while to come after Hillary is sworn in. 

I'm not gloating or happy about that last bit either.   I was hopeful and, as embarrassing as it became, I hung in there with Trump through the primaries, as surprised as even he said he was by how it was unfolding.   I identify with the basic, underlying thing he represented.  A change agent.  Outsider.  Finally shake up the establishment, etc, etc.  Everything Hillary's not.  

My sense of him at this point, is he's a good promoter, a mouth piece who doesn't mind getting dirty, one you point and shoot like a missile to blow something or someone to shreds.   He's tireless and shameless that way.  However, it's painfully clear he's just not POTUS material and I'm very disappointed about that, and at him personally for fking it up so badly.

1 hour ago, STARGASA said:

Well luck is what you need at Korat Imm at the moment as they dont seem to be helpful, on the last two visits they immediately start talking thai to the wife like i am not there . After being confused by wife`s explanation i ask if anyone speaks english as it is an imm office and i get the look as if i truly am an alien.

Also i forgot to mention that when they told me to return to bank and syncronise dates with bank letter then return to imm office if i leave Thailand and return i have to immediately return to imm office and report where i have been,     every time.

Thanks for your very clear and helpful advice.

Pardon if I'm making an incorrect assumption but when I read your posts last night, and again just now about the kind of treatment you're getting at a mostly "friendly" Korat Immigration,  I get the impression you may not have put your best foot forward during your visit there?

If my assumption is correct, may I suggest you make an genuine effort to reverse the impression you may have left? 

At your next visit, explain to the same officer (in you can) that your behavior was due to your  inexperience and lack of knowledge and confusion, and apologize for conducting yourself impolitely.   Don't lay it on too thick, you don't need to grovel.  Your wife, speaking Thai, will be very helpful and if the officer is receptive to the offered genuineness, it will pay you dividends for years to come and your wife will be very relieved by the release of underlying tension.

If I'm way off the mark and talking out my arse, please disregard. 

Donald has committed a foreseeable, tactical error by dragging Bill Clinton's follies into this.  A former President who was impeached and disbarred from practicing law.   A guy he rails against in the media as a sexual predator and rapist and then a few weeks later, painted into a corner, stupidly uses that low bar standard to compare and contrast himself to. 

At the 2nd 'debate', Anderson Cooper had him on the ropes.  Trump was virtually forced to blurt out that "NO!", he never carried out any of the acts he was caught on video/audio bragging about.  He damn well knew he stuffed himself with that one and the chickens are coming home to roost. 

Patient Hillary and Slick Willy are in a hotel room somewhere, supping Mountain Dew, munching on microwave popcorn watching an increasingly isolated Donald lashing out at the squadron of little women dive bombing his New York City sky scraper.

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The info used for the online reporting is from database derived form entries to the country. Immigration has no access to update it. Another reason for it not working is if you have gotten a new passport since your last entry.

I have the same problem (both of them). Immigration has told be to do a border hop if I want to do online reports.

Roger that, thanks. 

-----

FWIW on the email notifications, I received one this morning from Immi saying my online 90 day report was approved. 

6 hours ago, STARGASA said:

Hi 55 Jay,

Thanks for helping.

There`s no panic on overstay as i did what imm asked and did border run {lucky its only 2 hrs down the road),  so now i understand the difference between single and multi entry, this isn`t explained clearly on any embassy website, i thought the multi entry would be better.

So,  when i visited the imm office they misunderstood thinking i wanted to change the visa , whereas i thought you had to report to imm before the first 90 days ran out. I suppose if i had a single entry visa i would have to report ?

My intentions are to stay here as i am retired and have family here.

Do yourself a favor, for the moment, put the term "90 day report" out of your mind.  You seem to be confusing yourself needlessly with that. 

Your next milestone is, about 30 days before your new, current 90 day permission to stay expires, submit your request at Korat Immigration to extend your stay in Thailand for 1 year, based on "retirement".   You can ask the guys here on ThaiVisa for the requirements or visit Korat Immigration in advance and pick up the documents "check list" from them. 

I presume the money you've already deposited in your Thai bank account to satisfy the funds requirement for "retirement", is still there.   Leave it alone, it will be well and properly "seasoned" when you submit your 1 year extension request.

With regard to the bank letter problem you had, get a new letter on the day you plan to submit the extension request at Immigration.  While you are at the bank, also make a small transaction (deposit 50 Baht for example) and have it logged in the relevant account passbook.  That will synchronize the last entry date in your passbook, with the date on the bank letter. 

Meet all the requirements, be organized, display a positive attitude at Immigration.  If you run into a hiccup, don't get too frustrated/angry.   Stay cool, deal with it, and you'll be fine.   Good luck.