YipYipYa123

The tip system in the US is out of control, there are looking for 15 to 20% even if you hated the meal and they are hostile if they don't get it. You want to bring that here?

I have to agree with that view, I have been in restaurants in the US many times where not only has the food been awful the service has been abysmal and they still expect a tip. My daughter lives in the US and it amazes me that she still gives a 20% tip even when she is served by sloppy and rude staff. The amazing thing is that she doesn't see anything wrong in it.

If you want to express dissatisfaction, it is perfectly appropriate to tip 15% or even less, maybe down to 10%.

20% should only be for good service.

In a very expensive place, lower's OK, a cheap diner less so.

That's the way it is, if you don't like it don't go there.

why not tip zero ? and dont go back if the service is crappy or staff is rude ?

the new space station immigration building in chang wattana , how many billions were creamed off the top on a project like this ?

Fixed one of these locks that is used by (it seems) 99.9% of all bikes in Spain. I'm hoping it will deter the opportunistic bike thief.

interesting lock ,i have not seen that style before

Predictable to see the usual suspects regurgitating their odious, disparaging opinions about the small pool of Thai women available to them and assuming that every other man, Thai or otherwise, is grubbing around at the bottom of the barrel for the same roadkill that they are.

I couldn't say for sure how Thai guys on 6K a month find girlfriends but I'd hazard a guess that, within their own social circles, it comes down to being attracted to one another, making each other laugh and having something in common. Just like it is anywhere else in the world.

The majority of Thai women are not sexual mercenaries available to the highest bidder.

Human evolution would suggest that women will any screw men they can get their hands on (or maybe the other way around ) regardless of money

since women were screwing men before the concept of money was invented

probably in village areas where the average wage is 6000 thb ,that might be enough to live on ? not all thai women are going to find a 200k a month lifestyle and many might not even want it ,if it ment going with some old farang bloke 2 or 3 times older than her

many would still choose the less wealthy thai man from the same peer group i suspect ....

More details about the new GTS models on the SYM website:

http://www.sym.com.t...ndex.php?bid=69

I hope they will bring the "New GTS/JOYMAX 250i" (249cc) to Thailand. Should be a nice bike with nice features and around 25hp. And maybe with a lower price than the current "300i".

if its a 249cc it maybe tax free or in the lowest tax category which should make it much cheaper than a imported 300cc

Good post - why do the majority of Thai women insist on relationships with Thai men when there's such a fine upstanding selection of western men available?

theres basically a handful of farangs (many old and decrepid ) and about 30,000,000 thai men

simple mathematics would suggest ,there is NOT a rich farang available to be picked up by every

thai woman who would like one

200k a month ?

I sleep in a blanket on the beach ,it doesnt have much mod-cons but its saves me a fortune

I can catch a fish or wake up early and pick mushrooms for free from the fields

i collect scraps behind resturants before the rats ,cats and soi dogs can get them

sometimes friendly people leave a sandwich beside me when i sleeping

i can wash and shave in the big C toilets

I drink beer for 26 thb per bottle outside the 7-11 ,when im flush i eat at the local restaurant and it

costs me 25thb for a chicken drumstick and some rice soup

ive had the same clothes for years ,who needs to buy clothes EVERY month ? im the same size now as i was when i was 18

British men just aren't that attracted to French and Indian women.

I am not sure about that, I think you will find that many of us English guys have a soft spot for French ladies and their accents are to die for!

There you go objectifying women again. There is so much more to a woman than an accident of birth. You aren't that old are you?

compared to you ,everyone else probably isnt "that old "

did you ever think when your were younger ,that one day you would actually be that grumpy old XXXX that moaned at younger people for absolutely everything ?

tell them all theyre wrong because youve been here for longer than they have and youve bla bla bla..........

I buy most of my stuff (jackets, pants, helmets, shoes) from Paddock but I always wonder how they can survive financially. I would hazard that there are probably less than 1,000 of us in Bangkok (maybe even the whole of Thailand for that matter) that realise the importance of ATGATT. I almost never ever see a Thai donning full protection on the streets so who is Paddock selling all their stuff to?

I wonder if there's more than meets the eye here.

Who can wear full protection on the streets? It is good to kill yourself on 50 degree Celcius asphalt.

Full protection is for track or for touring so it is normal not to see them on streets on cities. Most of the people i know riding big bikes prefer to ride smallish bikes for their commuting as well with less protection.

But, i am also septic sometime about Paddock pricing like either some of their stuff is fake - i do not give it much chance but TIT - , second hand or defective goods - much more bigger probability - and old models - the biggest probability - of manufacturers from Japan?

imagine dressed up valentino rossi in full leathers on a sweltering hot sunny afternoon ,stuck in a traffic jam behind buses for 2 hours trying to get across the city

full gear is not something i could wear for running errands around bkk

I try to wear a decent pair of work boots ,jeans and a t shirt + almost always helmet

going to another province on express way ( speeds of 80-160kmph ) i try to wear an armoured jacket as well but if i expect the roads to be jammed

i dont take the jacket because its too uncomfortable to be soaked in sweat sitting on a roasting engine and stuck behind something with no place to pass

through

I don't think you got what he was saying. Young Thai men have yellow teeth, may be drug addicts, sometimes abusive and very often not faithful and alcoholics. Most women who find Farang men have a child to support from a Thai man who ran away. Not all Thai men of course but a significant number leave fatherless children. Yip I don't think you know much about Thailand. Also a lot of young Thai women end up with older fatter Thai men because they have land and or money.

I am a farang and ive been with plenty of thai women who havent had any kids or been raped or abused into prostitution by poverty or starvation

Many thai women have independant wealth thesedays from....................jobs (NOT BG;s)

Maybe youve just been taking the women from a differnt pool that i have .......

You want to tell us what the % of single Thai women earning over poverty level is in Thailand today?

I dont know ,i live and work in the central business district

the number of young ,attractive women with office jobs and their own money seems pretty high (some even have own car etc )

but i suppose the companies that can afford to rent offices in this area can pick and choose so the ones i meet on a daily basis are

are wealthier or have more disposable income than most

you cant compare these to uneducated farm labourers from isarn and expect to get the same %

if i had to guess ,id say that not many of them are living in poverty but again ,thats not representative of the village rice farmer who never even been to bangkok never mind graduated university there with a masters degree ......

Apologies, I've not read the whole thread, I want to enjoy life however my suggestion is................

Maybe if they just removed the word "Police" all would be well.

We've got tourist wardens now in Glasgow and they are well regarded, they get to wear a bright jacket and be nice to people. Seems about right to me.

I'm going away now before it turns nasty

allowing them to be called police and idiots making their own hi-powered "police" vehicles such as harley davidsons ,honda goldwings and hummer jeeps

is part of the problem as funny as it might be

if anyone of signifigant importance gave a shit ......there is plenty of young english speaking thais that could help police these areas ,but they would rather work in an office for a multi-national and get proper wages so this division of social misfits is allowed to exist and go around with pepper spray

imposing their alledged authority on anyone who will tolerate them

I don't think you got what he was saying. Young Thai men have yellow teeth, may be drug addicts, sometimes abusive and very often not faithful and alcoholics. Most women who find Farang men have a child to support from a Thai man who ran away. Not all Thai men of course but a significant number leave fatherless children. Yip I don't think you know much about Thailand. Also a lot of young Thai women end up with older fatter Thai men because they have land and or money.

I am a farang and ive been with plenty of thai women who havent had any kids or been raped or abused into prostitution by poverty or starvation

Many thai women have independant wealth thesedays from....................jobs (NOT BG;s)

Maybe youve just been taking the women from a differnt pool that i have .......

Young thai men may not have a lot of money

but they dont have yellow teeth ....

breath stinking of alcohol / tobacco

40 kilos over weight

enormous beer belly's

constantly drenched in sweat ,even when stationary

inability to communicate in an alien land

erectile dysfuction except while on viagra and a whole host of other advantages they may have over expat farangs .....

You've never been to a Thai village, have you?

Yellow teeth or missing teeth ...... they have

Alcohol Tobacco and Yaa Baa ...... most of them

Sweaty ...... farm labourers are often sweaty

yes ,but the young thai men .....have these advanatges over the farang imports

hence ,money isnt everything that makes a woman open her legs .....

Young thai men may not have a lot of money

but they dont have yellow teeth ....

breath stinking of alcohol / tobacco

40 kilos over weight

enormous beer belly's

constantly drenched in sweat ,even when stationary

inability to communicate in an alien land

erectile dysfuction except while on viagra and a whole host of other advantages they may have over expat farangs .....

Television is so crap I haven't watched it in years...

Get a good big TV screen and fastest internet available

In your area and you can have quality films and media

content your actually Interested in rather than the crap

and advertisements They broadcast

Go in the 7-11 after 1 am and they try to tell you they cant sell beer

go down the street and theres a party happening out side the family mart

with 10-15 thai people sitting around drinking and chatting as if it were

someones living room ,all drinking fresh cold bottles from familymart

i got my Shoei helmet and Komine jacket from there too.

I could not get any discount for Shoei - i bought it for 22,000 thb 4 years something ago.

I bought the Komine jacket 6 months ago for 2800 thb man! just for a fake jacket price from Khlong Tom - China Town.

I always go there once in two months to chekc the discounted prices and recommend everyone to do so.

The Paddock is selling fake gear from china town ?

Pattaya Volunteers,

For starters half of them do not speak any English and certainly no Thai, so how exactly are they helping?

The ones who are from English speaking backgrounds, majority do not speak or understand any Thai, so again, how exactly are they helping? They can not translate your problem, nor can they understand the instructions given by the real officer.

For some unknown reason, some of them have decided they have the right to act as police , Following is a personal experience which can be backed up by CCTV and live witnesses.

One volunteer decided that he wants to park his bike in front of my hotel, on hotels property(he was not a guest or patron).

He parked his bike right in front of a sign which states in red and bold in 2 languages(english and thai)

"parking for hotel guests only, if parked without authorization, bike will be chained and 100 baht will be charged"

Anyhow, after 30 mins or so of him shopping or doing whatever he did return to find his bike chained up.

First thing he did was flash his volunteer batch-to which i simply laughed.

He paid the 100 baht and returned with a street cop from around the corner, which was even more funny, considering that same street

cop uses my toilets and gets his drinks from the hotel.

30 mins later, he returned with another officer from the station. After showing that officer where he parked and the sign, that officer just left...

The real Thai cop, just left him, so he had to take a taxi to go back to station.

He returned again, sadly i was not here, and started demanding to see all the licenses, my WP from my staff etc. As i said, sadly i was

not present, to have him charged as volunteers have no right to "demand" or act without real police present.

So to answer your question why people do not speak nice of them?! because they are useless, arrogant and worst of all too stupid to

think they have some special powers.

I am not saying all, but have enough of them around to give that impression.

Some are too fat or too old to even walk so what use are they exactly when there is trouble and they are called?! Though are useful to give directions.

Lucky you didn't get arrested for theft. You have no legal right to chain peoples bikes, on your property or not, sign or not, even plonkers bikes.

park a vehicle on my land and see what happens to it ,some idiot parked in front of our delivery entrance before and we just broke his window ,took the hand brake off and pushed it down the street

"real " police came down to see what the problem was ,manager told them in thai and they told the offender he should leave before things get worse

what ever gives you the right to use someone elses property as a free car park ?

Blocking an entry/driveway is completely different than the example given above to which I replied. What gives you the right to vandalize, burglarize, and commit grand theft? So you're giving examples of how fcuked up people can do fcuked up things to other people and get away with it. Congrats. Your a tough guy. Because you and phl got away with it doesn't make it right, or legal.

phl had one incident in which he was the provocateur because he wanted to apply special rules to the TPV because he was a TPV. From this one incident he has determined TPV's are "they are useless, arrogant and worst of all too stupid"

phl, your story is suspect. Why would he be stranded after paying the 100B? Did you refuse to unlock his bike?

if someone parks on our property ,we do enforce our own rules

he can not complain about his vehicle being clamped or in our case ,moved with whatever force necessary

local police will back us in every situation ,whether its right or wrong makes no difernce and you must be new in thailand

if you think the letter of the law is enforced in any righteous or justly manner ,more likely "police intrepretation of the law " is enforced (BIG differnce )

pissing in the wind again ,eh joe ?

,speeding through red lights with a police badge on their vehicle , and shouting at other tourists like they have some authority over everyone is a system all gone wrong...........

When you reported the guy with a tourist police badge on his car abusing his position, what happened? Oh, you didn't? Why not?

Perhaps it was it just a police badge like every second Furtuner, Beemer and Merc in Thailand has? Because those aren't TPV's.

I once witnessed a car with "tourist police assistant" written across the back in big letters que jump and slowly run a dozen red lights the length of Chao Fa East. It really bothered me. I wanted to take the drivers picture but the entire car was blacked out, even the front. I noted the plate number and sent an email to the Tourist Police. Probably did nothing but I felt better about it. If you see something like that and don't do anything about it then you are complicit in it, and really shouldn't be coming on here to moan about it. If only I had a camera that did video, I would have recorded it and posted it.

ever hear of pissing in the wind ?

park a vehicle on my land and see what happens to it ,some idiot parked in front of our delivery entrance before and we just broke his window ,took the hand brake off and pushed it down the street

"real " police came down to see what the problem was ,manager told them in thai and they told the offender he should leave before things get worse

what ever gives you the right to use someone elses property as a free car park ?

IF they want to cut down on the dickheads they enlist i think the army storm trooper uniforms should be scrapped ,

and the word "police " should be stripped from their title ,they dont have any power anyway and those that genuinely

want to help should be called Volunteer Tourist Guides or something similar and should be dressed like someone who sells bus tickets

in travel agent ,not like riot police in europe preparing to deal with football hooligans

Letting them be called "police" is a major part of the problem IMO ,and possibily a good reason why it attracts the people who want to abuse the job

when they see the corruption in the regular police force that goes largely ignored by the population

dressed up like rambo ,speeding through red lights with a police badge on their vehicle , and shouting at other tourists like they have some authority over everyone is a system all gone wrong...........

Parents have remarkable rights over children in Thailand i believe

If they object to a relationship ,they can even have a lover arrested if the girl is under age 20

and they police DO take it seriously

I think if the parents signed him up and dropped him off at the army base in the middle of nowwhere ,there might be

very little he could do about it

he wont be able to beat up a couple of army drill sergeants and smash their computers and they for sure wont take any shit off a 17 year old punk so he will learn .....one way or the other as they say

Isn't that just because it's illegal to have sex under whatever age without the parents permission ?

I doubt anyone can sign their kids into the army without the kid agreeing to it.

hes either a child or an adult ,he cant be both

if its illegal to turf him out until hes 20

and its his parents choice if he has sex or not unitil hes 20

is it not his parents choice if he goes to army camp ?just a suggestion

if hes on drugs and going a bit mental with too much freedom at age 17

what else can they do with him ?

theres always "monkhood " but i doubt that would be strict enough

hes probably not afraid of anything at the moment ,and thats the problem

he thinks he can do what he wants ,his dads not around and his mum is easily

bullied etc

i got a jacket that was "reduced " from 12,500 on sale for only 4,500

I dont know if it ever really was 12,500 or they just put a ridiculously high mark-up on

stuff to make the discount more attractive looking

nice jacket though

I made a similar mistake myself in lending money to a farang couple. Needless to say i have never seen one Baht of it returned. They are now back in the UK but the matter is not concluded for me.

I certainly wouldn't lend anyone else anything again. Sad but true.....and yes I gave it over willingly....and witlessly as I recognise now.

Live and learn.

Edit: Just to give a proper perspective...part of this was 100k Baht towards an ICU bill for one of them. Not a penny returned.

I loaned a mate $10k and then he died.

the bastard ...