55Jay

The Bahrain-Qatar Causeway never got done. We'll see how this one goes.

You can drink alcohol legally in the hotels in Qatar and also Bahrain. You can't in Saudi Arabia. So having one Causeway from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain should be enough. But they don't have easy access to this from the West Side of Saudi Arabia. So you can be sure that this Causeway will be built. Especially when the Saudi Kings says it is so. So when the Saudi Kings says it is so, it will be so.

Won't argue with that. +1.

The Bahrain-Qatar Causeway never got done. We'll see how this one goes.

Am I correct in saying the Saudis objected to that one....something about not being able to control their citizens travel to Qatar.....may be wrong, but remember seeing something along those lines.

Dunno. Be nice if they controlled them from traveling to Bahrain.

The Bahrain-Qatar Causeway never got done. We'll see how this one goes.

Who here is "given" options? If the option presents itself?

That's some fancy word salad. "What are you doing for Songkran?" Simple.

In that context, we stay off the roads as the herds migrate up and down the country.

Bunch of family crawls through 12 hours of traffic to get out of BKK to come camp out with us. Suki on the little BBQ pots, lots of food, few beers, listen to music and play Bingo/cards, relax. Did a water throwing tour last year about town. Provincial big cheese said no to that this year. Smart. Not much water anyway.

What was the problem you were trying to fix originally, or were you just fiddling around?

All clear down here in middle earth. Windy and hot. This time a couple years ago had some tremendous wind, lost a roof tile or two.

How can a goverment be so stupid to let this go on

How can some posters be so stupid as to ignore what has been announced?

There is enough water to cope with Songkran and the amount of extra water that the celebration uses is not as much as the doom-mongers here like to suggest with their complete lack of knowledge of what is available.

The contradictory nature of the announcement alongside "conserve water", is what's being questioned.

The underlying lack of confidence in the government's short/long term planning, decision making and enforcement skills, and lacking sense of individual social responsibility, is supported by historical precedent.

Wasting water on Songkran may not drain the lake but on its face, given the concurrent "conserve water" announcements, it is NOT a necessary, prudent, logical, or socially responsible thing to do with the remaining water resource.

If things don't work out in July like the Water and Met Office hopes they will, we may revisit who the "stupid posters" were back in April. No offense intended to you personally.

Subdued, responsible Songkran 2016

Maybe not such a good idea this time around.

Come on, Thailand, do the right thing.

Anyone coming to Thailand has to realise "no one" is going to help you with anything and learn to do or arrange by planning in advance your own supplies.

I have 2 wells cost 150k for both one 85 metres deep one 55 metres deep supply 4000 litres an hour + an 8 metre deep 1 rai lake

Yes its a total farce in a country that receives HUGE amounts of rainfall...........no planning, no brains ,no hope ,stuck in a retarded serf like system of governance.

If your area starts to fall like mine, You will become the water source for your area if you have wells.

Are you able to refuse them?... Or even more importantly are you able to fend off desperate people?

anyone sets foot near my wells will get something between the ears...the only thing so far the village has done is complain about me.................most recent amusingly "I was stealing water" then I put some stone on the rubbish strewn grass verge and cleaned it all up was told " not belong to you" so i thought about covering it back in rubbish and looking like a jungle, then there was the "fixing the road" saga............. "not your job" all can be read about here somewhere...............I wouldnt piss on the villagers even if they were dying of thirst, then there was the guys stealing the fish from our pond...........they said " who are you to deny us poor people the right to eat". then we had someone from the govt out as "someone" said we were cutting down trees on our land??? most odd as no trees............as u can see Im not enamoured to them.

Thankfully Im about 500 metres outside the village of the damned with no neighbours.

Learning Thai language can have unintended consequences.

Sure 55jay.

Ronald Reagan had a good strategy.

Open border, guest worker plan, amnesty for the established Mexicans, clamp down on the employers that hire illegals, force the illegals into paying tax and social security.

Reagan realized they are providing a service that Americans need.

The Mexicans are there because we want them there.

What's the problem? They do the work Americans refuse to do.

Americans are benefiting. A symbiotic relationship has developed over decades and if you want to see chaos, kick them all out.

Besides there are more Mexicans leaving the US than arriving these days.

This focuses on the least nefarious of the SW border problems, but yes, would address many knock on issues, human rights/trafficking, and help clean up billions in gray Social Security contributions, tax and benefit fraud.

The more dangerous aspects of the SW border, as you know, are very real national security issues requiring paramilitary solutions. A wall is a basic component, but it also has crossover utility in directing the otherwise honest, hard working illegal guest workers toward the Big Beautiful Legal Door set into the Big Ugly Wall.

WRT managing the ebb and flow of workers, I agree with your comments above, yet lean right a bit about rolling over on another amnesty. I wouldn't have a problem if it was the last step in a series of program reforms and physical security enhancements. When that's ready to flip the switch and go live, no need to symbolically march them back over the border for a U-turn, like a farang on a Thai visa run. Do it in place.

An amnesty without addressing the contributing factors, will see us right back here in another 20 years when the next loud mouth candidate reminds us how stupid and derelict our government reps are/have been. Loud mouth blow hards are annoying. Moreso when they are shouting uncomfortable truths we would rather keep ignoring for political expediency and other reasons.

Thanks for the reasonable, measured reply. Cheers.

There is about 700 miles of fences and walls in the problem areas.

The illegal Mexicans I knew in California all came thru the area with a walls and security.

You see, Mexican police are at least as crooked as Thai police. Willing to look the other way.

Mexicans on their way to the US all know how to contact the 'coyotes.'

The coyotes are professional smugglers with friends and relatives in the border security business. Get it?

These coyotes guarantee passage all the way to Los Angeles. Used to cost around $400.

(I knew a Mexican that was picked up by Immigration on a Friday and he was back on the job Monday! )

As Trump is building the big beautiful wall he can also clean up the Mexican Police Department.

"Nobody is better than me at cleaning up police corruption than me, believe me...I have a big brain. " he will probably say.

Defining the problem is good. Productive. Spewing paragraphs of criticism, Can't Can't Can't, oh it's too hard, it's too big, moan moan moan, and belly aching about politics..... is precisely the sort of non-productive behavior that flourishes in both political parties.

I'm from San Diego, so yes, I "get it". Lecturing just makes you sound like a d i kc.

There are allot of people that don't get it. Just look at all the knuckle draggers at the Trump rallies.

Do you think something more should/could/ought to be done about SW border security and illegal entry into the country?

Sometimes you just can't make it to a bank branch to use an ATM there so if you have to use a stand alone unit a couple of rules to keep you safe

#1. If you get a message that the machine is out of paper and cannot print you out a receipt, move on to another machine, without a transaction number if something goes wrong you have no trail

#2. Make sure that you can see the ATM's number, it is usually located next to the lock where the machine is opened, if you cannot find the machine number, again move onto another machine

#3. If something does go wrong, immediately call the phone number on the machine and report the problem. The best they can do is to tell you which branch you will have to go to the next business day to retrieve your ATM card. You cannot wait around till the machine is emptied, you will have to go to a branch and provide a copy of your passport face page to retrieve your ATM card

#4. Many card issuers will allow you to put a temporary lock on the card so that you are protected while you are waiting to retrieve it. Once you get your card back call them and they will remove the block and you are back in business with a minimum of delay

I used to watch bank/ATM videos on the internet with commentary on the typical, careless behavior of ATM users. Also read reports on ATM skimming with photos of the devices. From this, I started a 20 second ritual before using an ATM, especially when I had a mag strip only ATM card, and extra vigilant if I broke discipline and used a stand alone ATM.

As I walk up, look around the area, including "up", for cameras, then inspect the ATM housing for anything out of the ordinary. Quick push/pull on the key pad to if there's an overlay. Bend down and visually inspect the card slot. Conceal keyboard when entering PIN.

I feel a bit more protected now with a chipped ATM card and, as before, keep the main lump of Baht in a separate, non-ATM account and just transfer what I need that day into the ATM account.

There is about 700 miles of fences and walls in the problem areas.

The illegal Mexicans I knew in California all came thru the area with a walls and security.

You see, Mexican police are at least as crooked as Thai police. Willing to look the other way.

Mexicans on their way to the US all know how to contact the 'coyotes.'

The coyotes are professional smugglers with friends and relatives in the border security business. Get it?

These coyotes guarantee passage all the way to Los Angeles. Used to cost around $400.

(I knew a Mexican that was picked up by Immigration on a Friday and he was back on the job Monday! )

As Trump is building the big beautiful wall he can also clean up the Mexican Police Department.

"Nobody is better than me at cleaning up police corruption than me, believe me...I have a big brain. " he will probably say.

Defining the problem is good. Productive. Spewing paragraphs of criticism, Can't Can't Can't, oh it's too hard, it's too big, moan moan moan, and belly aching about politics..... is precisely the sort of non-productive behavior that flourishes in both political parties.

I'm from San Diego, so yes, I "get it". Lecturing just makes you sound like a d i kc.

I get that some regions are still doing OK while others are in severe drought conditions, many for months already.

Suppose BKK saying no to Songkran would be like Obama telling the East Coast of the USA they can't celebrate Songkran because California has a drought problem, so all should suffer in national solidarity. It's not as if the water in the CP reservoir would or could be pumped uphill to Issan.... still, it just feels wrong. The PM has called for water conservation and so has the Water Authority, then in the next breath, sanctions Songkran wastage into their prediction model.

Drought stricken Issan-ites will have salt rubbed in their wound when they see photos of BKK Songkran revelers throwing water around on the street.

Many sections of the US SW border already have a wall. Trump is grandstanding a new old idea.

True. We can bug out but leave my wife's 84 yo mum and sister to take care. No, we'll stay. In for a penny in for a pound. Stiff upper lip lads, our finest hour in the face of adversity. Et al.e

Sent from my GT-I8150 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

That about sums it up. Normal to maybe better rainfall this year has a major shortfall to make up for before any positive gains are made. Much like California, just that ours only took 2 years to get where we are now.

Sent from my GT-I8150 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Took my LES to AMEB BKK first time and like it says here, not needed. You swear or affirm true and correct, sign, pay, off you go.

I also kept LES in my notebook at Immigration when using income letter in the past, but they've never asked for it.

Good Ruck!

Looking over the OP's comments, seems to have his shit together but being in the O&G profession, he's thinking about the "what if" scenario. Nothing wrong with that. He already knows what his situation is and like him, I'm also interested from time to time, to read about how others get on here.

With all these similar types of threads, I've noticed a trend in the 50-70k/month range.

Heard about Thai dogs being rounded up and sent North. Buang Kan borders Laos.

Friend of mine had 3 friendly soi dogs adopt the space right outside his drive gate. Gone now, somebody came and rounded them up.

The other article said this guy was beaten very badly but after autopsy, found the amphetamine/condom.

What do you make of that? Maybe unable to pass the condom, so they beat the shit out of him thinking it would come out same time.

Yes and unless she has traveled previously and has other reasons for visiting USA it will probably not be issued. There is a special procedure for those traveling for marriage and to see BF would appear to most officials as an attempt to shortcut that process. Normally much easier for BF to visit GF in Thailand.

Thank's for info But but but I thought it was only Mexicans, Muslims, they (Trump) wanted to keep out?

But anyone have some ideas how to get around these restrictions?

Yes, there IS an easy way around the "restrictions".

If she prefers cooler weather, use the Northern route. Preferably armed to protect against bears and wolves, which may be more dangerous than the coyotes down South.

He must be barking mad.

seems tame compared to this:

RIP USA.

Mute the sound and play a video where Sir Richard Attenborough narrates a pride of lions at the kill site of a Pronghorn antelope.

I would think "insurance" straight away with that kind of offer, but that works for some people, and of course, the bank. I usually say no thanks but have, on occasion, taken the advert flyer to peruse later.

Bank employees, IMHO, aren't far removed from the lady yammering into a microphone about alloy alloy hot dogs on promotion at the Tesco.