Balance

On 7/5/2025 at 6:33 AM, roamer said:

The problem with ideas is it's all in the execution.🙄

I disagree. Most of the problems are in the front end, i.e., strategic planning.  

4 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Looks like someone opened a box of toothpicks & dropped the box ................LOL

I played a game when I was about seven years old called "pick-up sticks." Each stick was about the size of a chopstick.  You grabbed the bundle in the center, raised it to 2-3 feet, and let go.  The result looked very much like the photo of the rebar.  Then you had to pick them up without moving any of the other sticks. 

A number of countries have solved the problem of truck drivers exceeding safe speed limits by having the manufacturers install "governors" on the engines that limit their speed. 

The same could be used for Taxi meters, i.e., if the meter is not on the car's stop.

The only way the land question can be explained is it was a condo, which can be owned, and there were gardening plots allocated by condo unit.  If this is the case, the bloody management could have straightened it out with the police.

All in all, the story, as reported, does not make any sense.

1 hour ago, Will B Good said:

 

My money is on the covid19 vaccine.....mark my words.....yet another cover up.

If he was diving off a PADI-certified boat and there were PADI instructors in the water with him, and he was diving with a "buddy," then he should not have died while diving, barring, of course, that he did not have a congenital heart condition or another catastrophic issue lying in wait.

Perhaps the details will surface someday. 

On 12/18/2024 at 6:58 AM, Scouse123 said:

 

Agree with you, and that is the problem.

 

 

I think it might do you good to go sit in the classroom sometime and see the behaviour that teachers have to put up with, and then the teachers get criticised when the kids have lousy grades, from kids and classrooms that have no interest in anything, except social media and playing with their smartphones.

When I was a 14 (1955) kid in what was known as Middle School, between Grammar and High School, the only person who could legally use corporal punishment was the Vice Principal.  The reasons were disruption of the classroom, not obeying the teacher, fighting in the classroom or outside, harassment of girls by boys, boys bullying boys, and smoking cigarettes, among others.

The wall behind the VP's desk was covered with paddles.  You were told to pick the paddle you wanted applied to your butt. This seemed to have the psychological effect of connecting the punishment to themselves and the responsibility for their behavior.  

On 12/6/2024 at 8:47 AM, lordblackader said:

The problem with the article isn't that tourists are charged more; it's that people living and working in Thailand and paying taxes have to pay up to 900% more. Try charging a Thai living in a Western country who is paying income tax and who has the local equivalent of Social Security 900% more to enter a park - all hell would break loose, and you'd never hear the end of how racist and discriminatory it was. 

I think the motive for charging more is simply collecting more, and money from foreign tourists is low-hanging fruit. Westerners tend to want to know where the money is going—to more tea money, to needed projects, or to invest in projects to increase attendance, for example. When a museum in America wants to add more space to display new art, it advertises the project, gets media attention, and generally builds a Buy-In for people to donate. People with extra money who can afford to donate to a project can also be recognized.  Projects do not have to be big; improving or building new trails, building new restrooms, and renovation projects, for example.  

On 10/30/2024 at 6:47 PM, Lorry said:

Nowadays, it's called ฤดูฝุ่น Ruedu fun - smog season. Characterized by burning fields and burning eyes, fire engines spraying Silom Rd and politicians promising improvements. 

I believe that most of the smoke is due to the surreptitious (at night) starting of fires in the forests to coax the shy mushrooms to the surface.

On 5/30/2024 at 5:37 AM, nickmondo said:

this article is nothing but scaremongering

there is no new information here.

everyone knows that the truth is...............nobody knows 

disgraceful article, and very annoying.

The part about solving the income inequality problem will begin with the completion of a mandatory hypocrisy class. 

5 hours ago, save the frogs said:

DO NOT take a walk on the wild side is what i'm getting from this.

 

 

If you and your partner are in a monogamous and honest relationship then both can be tested.  This was common as the AIDS epidemic was winding down. 

5 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

So many of the negative comments come from infrequent flyers, and some who do not fly on Thai.  Yes, the issue with the seat is unacceptable if a seat  maintenance issue, but it is not specific to Thai Airways.  Every airline has its infamous issues. One of the UK/Europe's largest had an issue with claims of bedbugs and deplorable catering, Air France still had 3 abreast seating on some of its business class  flights to BKK and KLM has the dreaded 2 abreast seating and lack of air flow control at each seat, Air Canada had the infamous "deflategate" where its air sack seat cushions deflate and left pax sitting on a metal plank. 

 

The aircraft on the Beijing route is the relatively new AB350. (So much for the comments that  TG uses old decrepit aircraft.) The seats are Soltys II from Airbus subsidiary Stelia Aerospace. The seat controls are distinguished by their difficulty of use. Control of the seat is awful. On my last flight to Tokyo, I couldn't get the seat to recline. I had the exact same problem as this passenger. The seat wasn't broken, I just couldn't figure out how to use the seat controls in large part because I mostly fly on B777 or 787 who have simpler seat controls.  I am not alone. Many passengers have the same problem. My mistake was that i didn't ask for help, not that the FAs were  attentive. They were no worse than on an EU or North American airline.   I expect this passenger had the same issue.  Why then would the airline pay compensation for something that wasn't a malfunction.  The problem is with Airbus and its poor seat design.  I just got off an AB 330  and its seat controls were just as bad.  I sympathize, but the problem was most likely not a broken seat.

Your post points directly to part of the problem at TA; there is no training. Assuming that the seats were not broken and that the controls were confusing, there should have been one or more people among the cabin crew who knew how the controls worked and were able to walk over and show the passengers how to work them.  

The last sentence gets to what should be creating the real prospect that there will not be a Thai National Carrier in a couple of years and that the reputation of Thailand will continue to decline.

I stopped flying with Thai Airlines when the U.S. banned the carrier from landing at any U.S. Airport. The reason: nonexistent or incomplete maintenance records combined with a demonstrated lack of training and inability to perform the work.  

The issue has been around for at least 15 years, but it seems that has been done about it and/or nothing can be done about it due to a lack of will to make individual people responsible for doing their jobs correctly and firing them.  

3 hours ago, petermik said:

13,000 baht for a 59 night stay....that should have raised a red flag from the start

My takeaway: I'll never do business with Booking.com again

On 4/6/2024 at 1:17 PM, Nickcage49 said:

Thailand going to space. There's so much comedy there. They need a space program like they need subs and warplanes.

How about declaring a medical emergency in the North and getting rid of the smoke?  Then, it's off to the moon, or Uranus.

Of course, there can be no declaration of a health emergency because it could hurt tourism.  So, let them come,  then wander about for a few days,  deal with burning eyes and coughing.  A few photos will go viral worldwide,  and tourism will take a steep and long-lived decline; think of COVID.   

Someone recently posted that the Canadians design and manufacture planes to put out forest fires. These planes can be leased when needed, delivered, and then picked up. It would be nice to see them here next year.

It depends on what kind of visa you want/need. Marriage (and, I believe, retirement) visas are not issued anywhere in the United States.  

It seems that as rules and regulations change in Thailand, this is not communicated to the consulates or is misinterpreted.  

If you are a U.S. citizen,  come into the country without a visa.  You will be issued a 30-stay visia.  If you want another kind of visa, begin the process immediately. 

When I first came to Thailand in 2011,  I was going to apply for a retirement visa in the U.S., before I left.  After lots of calls to the embassy in Washington D.C., no one could answer any questions. Finally, I saw and ad for Siam Legal and sent them an email.  They confirmed that you can't do a retirement visa in a foreign country.  They secured a 90 business visa for me, and helped me with the retirement visa once I got to Chiang Mai.  I believe their bill was just under $5,000.  Help with visas has gone up, but the process at immigration has improved considerably.

Good luck

On 2/21/2024 at 1:58 PM, brianthainess said:

Depends if your IO do home visits or not, if so I'd stay put.

When we applied for a Marriage extension a few months ago, my wife was told that there would be no home visits for ongoing marriage extensions in Chiang Mai.  For us, this turned out to be true; we were never contacted to do a home visit. 

On 2/6/2024 at 3:09 AM, flyingtlger said:

With so many accidents occurring every day in Thailand, unfortunately its become all too common.

I'm getting desensitized to it all...... 

How in the hell do you run into the back of a 22-wheel tractor-trailer rig?  Oh, I forgot, TIT; answer:

1. Fell asleep;

2. Watching something else on the opposite side of the road;

3. Texting on cell phone;

4. Having a fight with wife on the phone;

5. On drugs.

I remember also reading an article years ago about another similar pile-up.  The driver lived and later told police that he was told by the company owner that he would be fired if he did not take the run, and this was after he had just finished a several-hour trip.

The bottom line is that there are no regulations, no REAL investigations, and no punishment for violations.  What is not understood is that social media will finish the demise of the Thai economy.

2 hours ago, edwardflory said:

"""HOW much time did the grandmother spend videoing the alleged rape """

This says it all!! The grandmother did NOTHING to protect the CHILD in her care, too too busy videoing!!

Setting aside the details for a moment, it is true that there can never be any justice if there is no film and the abbot keeps doing it.

4 hours ago, The Theory said:

😮😮😮 This happens when a contractor look at "anchor bolts" as solution for anything.

🤔🤨

If there were 40 people on the balcony (the dimensions were not included in the article), it certainly needed structural support timbers extending to the ground and anchored in concrete. Then, the bolt anchors would have held. 

10 hours ago, Crossy said:

Saw this on the TV last evening, they had circled images of the (lack of) re-bar tie-in between the balcony slab and the main building.

 

The video showed the whole lot, with people on board, just dropping like a lift!!

 

Luckily it wasn't higher up ...

 

EDIT Re-bar? We don't need no silly re-bar!!

 

It looks like it was stapled to the facia board.  I hope the resort and the contracting company have good insurance.

On 12/11/2023 at 7:43 PM, Tbone999 said:

Not at all, I'm looking for best insulation, and from what I've been reading, the AAC blocks are pretty much the same construct, but prices vary between the manufacturers and their comes with the complication of local builders not understanding how to deal with these particular blocks. I have zero expertise in this type of construction and looking for advise that's all. All I know is, if I go ahead and build something like this, has got to be better than using the usually useless local bricks which just makes a house so uncomfortable, it's a dread to live there. All these local designs / building materials seem to be just a look fancy, living hell, so looking into other possibilities really...

 

The Japanese have a unique DIY building block that you might want to look at.  I looked for the URL in my saved bookmarks but could not find it.  They are expanded polystyrene and about 12" thick and go together in a dome configuration.  The walls are the insulation.  Good data on the homes built in Japan and elsewhere.      https://images.app.goo.gl/iwFMrLz2V9924Jhc6    

Good luck

It seems to me that TAT could prepare a one-page notice to arriving Tourists about how to take care of their money; what to do, and what not to do.  One thing NOT to do is carry a lot of money a lot of money with you in the first place.  A Foreign Debit Card would be much safer, in their wallet and ON THEIR PERSON, not in the overhead bin.