Estrada

I learnt to read Thai within 5 days 33 years ago. That doesn't mean I was fluent, but I could catch a bus to the right destination. It has saved myself and companies I have worked for, from being scammed or conned by Thais deliberately giving the wrong translation of bid documents and contracts.

A friend had his bank come after him for B6.5Million as he had signed as guarantor of a loan for his Thai partner which he was told was a form from his son's school for tuition. Had he been able to read Thai he not have signed.

You can also catch the No.2 free bus along Sukhumvit rd in Bangkok (and other routes), if you can read Thai writing.

However, being able to read a newspaper in Thai doesn't help as they are all crap. Better TV, the Nation or the Bangkok Post in English.

And a B1,000 fine to Lite Beer for not being able to spell "Felling" in the headline.

I applied for 3 UK Visas and got the notification after 7 days to pick up in 2 days, so total time 9 days. However the UKGOV publish actual statistics of % applications processed with 10days 88% and 15 days 99%. So always apply 3 weeks before you want to travel in any case, unless you can fly at anytime once you have your visa.

Looks like Mr "Goh" is about to make a break for it on that rather nice bike. whilst the rest of 'em, the cops, the fat farang, the mia farang are too busy smirking, pointing and congratulating themselves. I doubt any of them would be able to catch him. However just hanging around his mother's house for a few hours would inevitably see him turning up to kin khao and have her sak pha.

You sound like one of the many crims that I have arrested in the UK for breaking into my houses, shops and factories. Always smirking and congratulating themselves until they get slammed up in prison. If that is your attitude, I hope that your house or condo gets continually broken into. Then your smirk will be on the other side of your face. Secondly, they are Cambodian so they Hoap bai not kin khao.

Perhaps this will prompt BTS to re-think their decision not to install Platform Screen Doors at all stations.

BTS have not made a decision not to install platform doors at all stations. The doors are provided by VGI Media which is a subsidiary company. So far B700Million has been spent installing the doors. It depends therefore on sponsorship through advertising income

Secondly we do not have screen doors on most platforms in the UK on the mass transit systems. These idiots are at fault for walking around not looking where they are going playing games and texting on their smart phones. I am regularly run into by smart phone users not looking where they are going. Motto should be don't drive (or walk) and text at the same time.

Shocking story!

One problem was the Environmental lobby against the Yom River Dam. Had the dam been built there would have been sufficient water to provide dilution water for the down stream Chaophraya River.

You know nothing about my country or its people.

Racism and prejudice are not endemic in the American people, the vast majority of whom are tolerant, if not loving.

Racism and hate is screamed from the rooftops, however, by our divisive government spokespersons, including the President, and very much so by western media, permeating both the journalistic and "entertainment" industries like the stench of rotted flesh on cloth. These people are the ones who are deliberately, methodically, seeking to incite us to hate each other, and so to commit violence against each other.

Either you have been brainwashed, or you know this, and are too trying to brainwash the masses.

So I take it that what I read about slavery and the Ku klux Klan is all in the imagination of some writers.

Europeans introduced slavery in the Americas long before their was a United States. You forgot to mention the Black Painters or the fact England was an ally to south during the civil war or the centuries of servitude in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world and in some places still going on.

I think you mean the Black Panthers not the Black Painters.

There is a group of Chinese Thai owned Pharmacies just past The Crown Plaza Hotel on Rama IV rd Bangkok, that sell at Wholesale prices to retail Pharmacies. You can buy medicines at wholesale prices.

American's believe they have the god given right to shoot each other. 35,000 gun deaths a year, because of an interpretation of the right to bear arms in the Constitution written 200 years ago.

Open carry? Are you kidding me? The NRA is responsible for these deaths. I bow to Australia who saw the destructiveness of guns and BANNED them. The United States doesn't have the balls to do it. It's a public health issue that trumps any right to bear arms crapola.

I put gun nuts in with climate change deniers and the idiots who want to ban abortions...oh yeah that's the Republican party, a sad group that calls itself human beings.

"I bow to Australia who saw the destructiveness of guns and BANNED them."

You are a liar. But that wouldn't be unusual for a liberal, would it?

Source: Australia - Guns Facts, Figures and the Law (www.gunpolicy.org)

The estimated total number of guns (both licit and illicit) held by civilians in Australia is 3,050,000

The estimated rate of private gun ownership (both licit and illicit) in Australia is 15.0 firearms per 100 people

There are reportedly 172,422 handguns in civilian possession in Australia

In a comparison of the number of privately owned guns in 178 countries, Australia ranked at No. 25

The number of registered guns in Australia is reported to be

2012: 2,750,000

2010: 2,675,785

2001: 2,165,170

Source: Library of Congress - Firearms-Control Legislation and Policy: Australia

"The sale, possession, and use of firearms are regulated by the Australian states and territories, with cross-border trade matters addressed at the federal level. In 1996, following the Port Arthur massacre, the federal government and the states and territories agreed to a uniform approach to firearms regulation, including a ban on certain semiautomatic and self-loading rifles and shotguns, standard licensing and permit criteria, storage requirements and inspections, and greater restrictions on the sale of firearms and ammunition. Firearms license applicants would be required to take a safety course and show a “genuine reason” for owning a firearm, which could not include self-defense. The reasons for refusing a license would include “reliable evidence of a mental or physical condition which would render the applicant unsuitable for owning, possessing or using a firearm.” A waiting period of twenty-eight days would apply to the issuing of both firearms licenses and permits to acquire each weapon."

In America 88.8% of the population own guns which is around 283,000,000 Guns. As a result of that culture, there are over 11,000 homicides per year in the USA. In Australia, UK and NZ ordinary citizens cannot carry hand guns without a good reason such as a gun club, need a permit to carry which is strictly controlled and certainly we cannot own assault rifles. In Australia there were 25 Homicides in 2013 while at the same time there were 11,000 in the USA. Even if Australia had the same population as the USA, that would equate to Australia only having 345 Homicides in one year against 11,000 in the USA! In the UK there are 4,277 registered guns and against that there are only 26 homicides in one year. The reason for the difference is obviously the number of guns per person. In the USA gun ownership is 88.8%, Australia only 15% and the UK only 6.6%. With over 11,000 homicides per year in the USA compared with only 26 in the UK it is about time the USA puts an end to the culture that allows its citizens the right to arm themselves to the teeth with guns, knives, assault rifles and machine guns for "protection".

yes i got a non o m in savannakhet for 12 month nzexpet, and ubonjoe it was an expat in roiet that told me i could get a retirement visa well you are all wrong and i got what i was after and bigt3116it might be irrelevant but i got one

It is true you cannot get a retirement visa here. But you could apply for a one year extension of stay if you can meet the financial requirements. No need to make border runs every 90 day with an extension.

I arrived in Bangkok on a tourist 30 day permit to stay and placed B800,000 in a Time Deposit Account. They issued a Non-immigrant "O" visas in Country at Chaengwattana Immigration, on the basis of retirement (as per stamp in Thai Language affixed alongside it. Mine was issued in 2010 on 29th July 2010 and immediately "Used" to give me a permit to stay for 3 months so that they could check that my B800,000 was still in the bank account. After one month they issued my first 12 months permit to stay. I arrived on a tourist 30 day permit to stay.

The more you think things are going to change, the more they stay the same. Everything is going according to plan to benefit Samart/M-Link JV waste to Energy Plants to burn this waste. M-Link used to belong to Shin Corp but recently they changed the name to Ferrum and is part owned by Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang. He was appointed by the junta's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chaired by Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Sent 1 million Baht to a Hospital in Australia, took around 5 minutes to fill in the forms, money arrived in 3 days. I bank at Bangkok Bank but for international transfers you have to go to their closest International Branch, which I think is the same for most Thai Banks. Due to America World Police, we have to fill in Anti-money laundering forms to report all large transfers to them even though we are not American, stating purpose. That is the only hassle.

I went to BBL to enquire why their web site now says that Time Deposit Accounts are only available to Thais. They asked if I was American, to which I replied "No", so they said no problem if you are not American. They apparently are fed up with the time consuming paperwork and reporting the yanks are insisting on.

I did not read all 4 pages of posts so my point may have already been addressed. Construction at Southpoint stopped 5 months ago and management have told buyers that there is no confirmed date for construction to be recommenced. Buyers have only been told that Southpoint is is negotiations with banks regarding funding issues. Approximately 50% of the units have not been sold and there is no way Southpoint will be completed in Q4 2015 ( which was the commitment to buyers).

Thanks for the confirmation. I posted last week that I thought construction had stopped, as their web site has not been updated with progress since last November. I had inside information that the Company was in trouble a few weeks ago. That is why I recommended caution on this project. Having been here 21years and seen so many projects abandoned after the deposits/progress payments etc have been paid I not buy from this project until the financial difficulties have been resolved (If at all). Also what guarantee is there that Kingdom Properties will hand over the money to Thailand Elite for the 20 year visas? I nearly bought a condo near my house that started construction in 1997 and stopped at the second floor until it was bought from the bank last year. Everyone who paid their deposits and progress payments lost their money.

I think I will go with the regular retirement visas, which for 20 years would cost one a meagre 38,000 Baht

plus the 800k or 65k in the bank or pension in the bank of course...

so 16000000 for the 800k option or 15600000 for the monthly pension route

so it seems to me the condo/TE option is actually cheaper even for those retired, will leave them more money for Leo and their favourite Isaan teeraks to con out of them

Come on Soutpeel, you are not that naive??

It might come as a surprise to you, but with the 800k option, it is not compulsory to spend all the money each year!! And even if it was, at least you would be the benefactor, whereas with the TE card the money goes straight into the corruption trough.

As for the last part of your post:

oh dear and I always took you for someone with a sense of humour...

but lets assume you dont spend the 800k/yr your still have to "lock up" 800k in the bank therefore "phantom fiddlers' comment it only costs 38k is still wrong

but of course your asserting the TE money goes into the corruption trough, one supposes you can shows or prove it as I am sure the PM of Thailand would be very interested, considering he has given the undertaking to clamp down on corruption, and I am sure if you can show him the corrupt practices, sure there would be some gratuity in it for you...like a free TE card, which I sure you will refuse on moral grounds...

Everyone should have an emergency fund, this is the purpose of the requirement for B800K in the bank earning interest currently at B15,000/year. However you only need the money in the bank untouched for 3 months prior to visiting immigration to extend your stay. So you are totally wrong because over 20 years with average fluctuations in interest rates would become around B1,650,000 after deducting the B38K quoted by Phantom Fiddler. Personally I stick the money in a time deposit for 4-7mths and then 8-5mths in equity funds earning around 20%/annum.

Quote: "English teaching at basic education level will be adjusted to serve the needs of students and society".

Translation:

Despite English being the second language of ASEAN, it looks like children of the less fortunate will not be learning English. That should ensure the children of the well off and ruling elite, continue to get a better education.

Don't know where they are checking but nothing has changed down Sukhumvit and Bang Na.

Sorry, I was on Sukhumvit yesterday and in the Bangna Area yesterday and all the vendors are selling at no more thanB80. In fact one vendor selling close to Villa was selling at B75.

So no need now for a strapadictomy and the Toms will be queuing up.

If you're in England There's a Thai temple in Wimbledon south London called "Wat Puthapathip" or something like that, there are many English monks there, I'm sure they can give correct advice.

As far as I know:

1. You have to be Buddhist.

2. Find a temple that you like/ accepts you. Get a date of when you want to become a monk.

3. There are some documents you need to complete, get it signed by the head monk in the area, he will also give you a monk name which you will need later.

4. MUST Learn (memories the script to become a monk).

5. Enter the ritual to become a monk.

I think that's about it. Also be prepared to spend a lot of time at the temple and learn the way before becoming one.

I studied meditation and Thai at the Thai Temple in Wimbledon from 1992 -1994 (http://www.buddhapadipa.org/), at the same time Phra Peter Pannapadipo. We came over at the same time in 1994 we had been involved with the Anglo-Thai Foundation in sponsoring poor children's education. He moved to a Temple in Nakhon Sawan and set up the SET Foundation to carrying on this work. He has written 3 books, Phra Farang, Little Angels and One Step at a time published by Bangkok Post Books and still available from Asia Books etc. The monks at Wimbledon and KIngs Bromley in the UK are from Wat Mahatat in Bangkok near Sanam Luang. It is next to the Buddhist University and Thammasat. If you are in Thailand then go to Wat Mahatat or in the UK Kings Bromley to find out the procedure. You have to learn Pali, chanting and meditation but not Thai. Peter told me when he came over here that he only spoke Pali and could not speak Thai.

If you are serious, send my a private message through the forum message system and I can put you in touch with the Abbot, Ven. ChaowKhun Phrapanyabuddhiwithet (Dr Laow Panyasiri) in based in Kings Bromley UK at http://watmahathatuk.org/.

>>Twenty fire trucks arrived but were delayed by the rough road and its so many curves to the factory. <<

So if you want the services of the fire department, make sure that the road to your dwelling is straight!!

The roads in all the industrial estates are poorly maintained and many of them near undriveable. The individual industrial estate authorities are responsible for the condition of the roadways, not the factory owners.

Compounding the problem, fire safety in the industrial estate factories is almost nonexistent. Many of the factories do not receive an annual fire safety inspection by their local fire brigades. Fire suppression systems, alarms and fire extinguishers go uninspected for years. Refuse is allowed to pile-up and this creates fire hazards.

Devastating fires have become more frequent in the factories in the industrial estates. The Ministry of Industry, despite promising a crackdown on fire safety in factories, has done nothing over the past year to improve on this.

Not true. I have been to many of the Industrial Estates in Thailand and have never seen poorly maintained roads apart from where the leather factories were sited in Samut Prakarn. However that was not a purposely built industrial estate, the Leather Association just encouraged members to build factories near to each other.

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Firing blanks again?

It should read "Iraq still in disarray 12 years after the invasion of Iraq by the United States of America".

I think according the law, (I know this is the law in most European countries) as a foreigner you must carry your passport, or other document issued by Thai govt. showing your identity, with you at all times (not when swimming of course or diving). I think the officers are a bit liberal on the enforcement of this law thankfully.

In fact the majority of European Countries do not require you to carry your passport or I.D. This applies to the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Norway where it is not law for anyone to carry a passport and they have no National I.D. card. The following countries issue I.D.s but there is a no need to carry rule (no need photocopy either): Switzerland, Sweden, Liechtenstein, Italy, Ireland, France, Finland and Austria.

However, one of the exceptions is Germany where you can get locked up for up to 12hours if you cannot produce an I.D. Perhaps this is a left over from World War II. Most other countries accept any form of identification, even a book club membership card in some countries.

In Thailand you do not need to carry your passport at all times but a photocopy of main and visa page is accepted by order of the Government. You may have to produce the passport at the police station later if requested but unlikely. I have been here since 1982 and never had a problem. In my case talking Thai and showing my driving license is enough, they have never asked to see my passport.

I had the same discussion with him for free over drinks in Cosmos Bar Patpong last week.

Blowing nose ??? seems a bit extreme

This is the local habit of blowing your nose by closing one nostril with your finger and aiming at the ground and not using a handkerchief.