MrMuddle

I tip my maid "in kind".

They should taint the drugs with some really nasty shit that causes death, and then release it into the general population with massive warnings everywhere about what they have done. Therefore, anyone buying drugs will never quite know for sure if their next childish little kick will be their last. In fact, they would actually have to do it, just say so. Wonder how quickly drug taking would decline then especially from all the weekend warrior coke sniffers.

Drug users are not the most responsible of people, what happens if they buy some of these tainted drugs, take them home and a child eats them ?

As to your other response:

"Unless it is OK for thousands of lives to be ruined so a bunch of brainless nerks can get off their tits of a weekend."

How many millions of lives are ruined every weekend all over the world, by brainless nerks consuming alcohol, and then looking to cause trouble ?

What a joke! They should really be targeting taxi drivers, bus drivers, BTS operators, and MRT operators who pose a much greater risk while high on drugs, not someone walking the streets at night. Thailand is getting to be more anti-foreigner by the day. That's ok, because we are not stupid and we are looking elsewhere to spend our money.....I'm in the process of moving my money to Viet Nam

Why would immigration officers target Thais?

Good point, Although I would say why not target Thais? That is the principle for me. Surely we are not saying that immigration police only police crimes committed by foreigners !! If an immigration policeman sees a Thai robbing a 7/11 he wouldn't just ignore it because he is immigration police.

My follow on from that would be why are immigration police going out to check for drugs and not just normal police anyway.

"If an immigration policeman sees a Thai robbing a 7/11 he wouldn't just ignore it because he is immigration police."

I wish I was as confident as you are, on that statement.

When I lived in the UK I had a lot of young females visit my house, they invariably used to put a cushion on their knees when sitting down, even if they were wearing jeans or trousers. I think it's just a young woman thing, nothing to do with modesty, more a form of reassurance.

I wasn't sure about getting my photos endorsed - the form says it is not necessary for a renewal, unless the applicant's appearance has changed substantially - I thought mine had, so I got the local doctor in our village (who I've known for 10 years), to fill in the necessary part of the form, and sign the back of the photo. I wrote everything out for him in English first, so that he understood what he was signing, and so that he knew to write small! He also stamped my form with his surgery logo.

I renewed my UK passport three months or so ago. I sent the papers to Hong Kong, via the local Thai Post EMS, (which you can track via the internet, until it gets to Suvarnabhumi), and got the new passport between two or three weeks after I'd sent the documents in.

I received two large DHL envelopes, one with the passport, and the other with the receipt for my credit card.

The biggest difficulties I had were getting the photo background colour right, (the local photo shop did a background colour mix for me), and finding a black pen to fill the form in - it must be a black ball pen, not felt tip!

Good luck.

i can understand some people being reluctant to post, there are several cliques in some of the forums, who seem to verbally attack / ridicule/ give abuse to posters who have different views to their own. Me, I don't give a sh*te - if people want to waste hours of their days, trying to change my mind on anything, that's up to them, my views never change.

On the positive side, there are some wonderful folks who post on here as well, who are helpful, polite, humourous, and informative.

Is there any point in having extra officials when they position themselves so that they can't see properly ?

The Ukraine 'goal" was over the line, judging from the replays from the left - opposite to where the official was standing - very hard to tell from the normal camera viewpoint, impossible to tell from the right view, due to Terrys socks and the ball being the same colour.

Goal line technology should have been introduced after the fiascos at the last world cup, forget Blatter's idiotic stance of the same game for everyone, this tournament has seen countless millions invested by the Ukraine, only to see them cheated.

Was Rooney's goal the luckiest ever scored ? I've been watching football for almost fifty years and I can't remember a jammier one than that - perhaps Uncle Roy has that vital element of the rub of the green. England were lucky, can't recall a single player having a good game.

The ball was probably just over, but when it is as close as that, no matter how well positioned the official is, the decision is never going to be a matter of certainty. If it doesn't get given, you count yourself a bit unlucky sure, but it's hardly the yard over the line daylight robbery incident we have seen before and ourselves been the victim of.

As for your bitterness concerning Rooney's goal, what a nonsense. As if out of sportsmanship, Rooney should have let the ball pass his head for fear of the shame of scoring a sitter. It's what a strikers job is. To be ready for opportunities that come out of the blue like that. And he took it. He didn't cheat. Ukraine screwed up, he took advantage. Had that been England's defence screwing up, would you be bitter about the striker who took his chance, or would you be deriding England's crap defenders and goalie?

Bitterness? <deleted> ? Been "celebrating"?

Where did I accuse Rooney of cheating ? And one thing I would never accuse Rooney of is sportsmanship, I'd be amazed if he can even spell the word.

Doesn't alter the fact that due to Blatter's refusal to use the technology that's available, yet another tournament has been degraded.

I mentioned the fact that he hadn't cheated in scoring his goal, not because that was what you accused him of, but to make the point that it was a clean goal and whilst it may have been a sitter, he still needed to be in the right place and prepared to react from the ball having gone through a defenders legs, and then through the grasp of the goalie. Chances of this nature are often missed by the player not running that extra yard as they simply assume its the keepers ball, but rather than give credit to the scorer and have a go at the poor defence that allowed it - as you (and i) undoubtedly would have done were it Ukraine scoring as a result of England's crap defence - you have a go at Rooney for "scoring the jammiest goal you have seen in 50 years" (you obviously don't watch a lot of football if that is the case). That to me is bitterness. There are enough instances of strikers cheating their way to goal that would be worthy of your negative comments, just don't see the reason for it here, besides the obvious fact that you "have a thing" for Rooney and would criticise him whatever he did. *Yawn*

You've obviously missed the major point of my comment, which was that Ukraine were unfairly cheated out of a well deserved draw, by FIFA refusing to use the technology available to ensure fair results in major games, and before you point out that the Euros are run by UEFA, if FIFA had introduced it, then UEFA would have had to comply.

As for Rooney's goal, I stand by my comments, can't remember ever seeing a goal scored after three defenders fail to cut out what was originally a bad cross, and yes I don't rate Rooney, either as a man or a footballer, but that's MY opinion, as you would say, nothing more, nothing less.

From memory and without googling I will say Dundee Utd...maybe 1987.

I did Google, because I couldn't remember !

Since 1965, when Kilmarnock won the title, only Aberdeen, (in 1980, 1984, &1985), and Dundee United (in 1983) have taken the title away from Rangers and Celtic. That statistic in itself should be obvious that something seriously needs to change, for the good of the game as a whole, in Scotland.

I think the whole Scottish premier league set-up is wrong, there are not enough teams, it gets boring playing the same sides over and over, and there are only two possible winners. The Scottish premier league is the least competitive in Europe, even Spain with it's own two club giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, has seen other clubs win the title in the not so distant past, I can't remember when a team outside of the Big Firm last won the league. (But I'm going to Google it, out of curiosity). Even with a points deduction, Rangers finished comfortably in second place this past season. Before next season's fixtures were announced, Celtic manager Neil Lennon was talking about European competition being his priority next season, which leads to the assumption that he feels the league title's as good as in the bag already. How must supporters of the other clubs in the league feel about that?

I agree with the comment about the Hibs youth programme being raided by the big two....perhaps a rule to prevent Rangers and Celtic buying more than one player every three years from a rival club would solve the problem ? It would certainly make the league a bit more competitive.

Where the young, talented, Scottish players have gone is a mystery. Twenty or thirty years ago, most successful English teams had a Scot or two, in their team, but the talent is no longer coming through.

Scotland's captain, Fletcher, isn't even assured of a regular first team place at club level (when he's fit), so what does that say about the rest of Scotland's squad?

Maybe it's the life style followed by Scottish kids, too many competing, and less energetic, attractions for their time.

Is there any point in having extra officials when they position themselves so that they can't see properly ?

The Ukraine 'goal" was over the line, judging from the replays from the left - opposite to where the official was standing - very hard to tell from the normal camera viewpoint, impossible to tell from the right view, due to Terrys socks and the ball being the same colour.

Goal line technology should have been introduced after the fiascos at the last world cup, forget Blatter's idiotic stance of the same game for everyone, this tournament has seen countless millions invested by the Ukraine, only to see them cheated.

Was Rooney's goal the luckiest ever scored ? I've been watching football for almost fifty years and I can't remember a jammier one than that - perhaps Uncle Roy has that vital element of the rub of the green. England were lucky, can't recall a single player having a good game.

The ball was probably just over, but when it is as close as that, no matter how well positioned the official is, the decision is never going to be a matter of certainty. If it doesn't get given, you count yourself a bit unlucky sure, but it's hardly the yard over the line daylight robbery incident we have seen before and ourselves been the victim of.

As for your bitterness concerning Rooney's goal, what a nonsense. As if out of sportsmanship, Rooney should have let the ball pass his head for fear of the shame of scoring a sitter. It's what a strikers job is. To be ready for opportunities that come out of the blue like that. And he took it. He didn't cheat. Ukraine screwed up, he took advantage. Had that been England's defence screwing up, would you be bitter about the striker who took his chance, or would you be deriding England's crap defenders and goalie?

Bitterness? <deleted> ? Been "celebrating"?

Where did I accuse Rooney of cheating ? And one thing I would never accuse Rooney of is sportsmanship, I'd be amazed if he can even spell the word.

Doesn't alter the fact that due to Blatter's refusal to use the technology that's available, yet another tournament has been degraded.

Is there any point in having extra officials when they position themselves so that they can't see properly ?

The Ukraine 'goal" was over the line, judging from the replays from the left - opposite to where the official was standing - very hard to tell from the normal camera viewpoint, impossible to tell from the right view, due to Terrys socks and the ball being the same colour.

Goal line technology should have been introduced after the fiascos at the last world cup, forget Blatter's idiotic stance of the same game for everyone, this tournament has seen countless millions invested by the Ukraine, only to see them cheated.

Was Rooney's goal the luckiest ever scored ? I've been watching football for almost fifty years and I can't remember a jammier one than that - perhaps Uncle Roy has that vital element of the rub of the green. England were lucky, can't recall a single player having a good game.

Got to be Walcott for Milner at half time. Is Uncle Roy brave enough to pull off* nondescript Rooney in the second half ?

*no pun intended !!

Such payments are no longer available in the UK. They were phased out a couple of years ago.

Does this apply even if a Thai-born wife has become a british citizen ? Any links appreciated, Thanks

Thanks for the advice. I have however, developed a way of smiling my best smile, while at the same time thinking "you're a complete t*at", in these situations.

It works on farangs too!

A Thai niece of ours gave us three of her puppies, rather than sell them to people in her village, because she said we'd look after them properly, which we have. I understand the Ops philosophy, obviously he cares about his dogs and wants them to be properly cared for. Surely the animal's needs come before worrying about people's sensibilities.

Footnote ; We did insist on paying her for the puppies, and we paid more than she was asking - well worth it for the good company and laughs they bring to our life.

Pepe's a nasty piece of work, always has been.

For me, the difference between this Dutch team and the one that got to the World Cup final, is the absence of Van Bronkhurst. He was outstanding a couple of years ago, and offered the team much greater options in wide positions. His work rate, passing and leadership have been sorely missed at international level.

beware the now non-ponytailed danger that is voronin.

i can't see ukraine scoring against england unless england do what they did against sweden, which is basically serve up two goals on a plate to your opponents. stay tight at the back and in midfield and england have enough attacking options to beat what is not a very strong ukraine side really. their biggest strong point is home advantage which england should have enough experience to get their heads around.

With John Terry in defence, my wife's 80 year old mother would fancy her chances at scoring against England !

I'd like to see England start against ukraine with Rooney as sub. The team has done well without him, and in my opinion, if he'd been eligiible to play against Sweden, he'd have been in trouble with the referee, by reacting to all the unnecessary pushes, elbowing, and other niggling fouls that the Swedish team did.

I'd also drop Terry, he studiously avoided being anywhere near Ibrahimovic, in the Sweden game, so that he didn't have his limitations exposed. His passing has caused problems in both games so far, and he is a liability due to his lack of pace. At times it seemed that the other defenders, (Johnson in particular), were having to do his job for him.

You''ll not get your wish probably, heard Walcott picked up an injury in training.

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Rooney was going to start even if Wallcott is fit, he is a world class player and would be stupid to leave him out, he will be raring to go and i can see him scoring tonight.

I am more concerned about our back 4 coping with the Ukraine attack, Shevchenko will be a handful.

Edit just realized it is tomorrow night.

Good luck England tonight really looking forward to tonights game.

Depends on your definition of world class, (a much over used phrase in most cases).

If world class means one of the best 11 players in the world, then for the two forward positions, Rooney would certainly be behind Messi, and Van Persie (who scores more than Rooney and has played at a higher level, the World Cup final), there's also Suarez, Mario Gomez, Ibrahimovic etc.

Rooney is no doubt a very good Premier league player, but has he dominated a major Champions league final, or played a significant part for England in games that really matter ? That's world class, the ability to play at a high level in the majority of games, especially the ones that decide major tournaments.

Back to the topic, I hope England go into the Ukraine game with the attitude that they have to work to win. Too many times England have let themselves and their fans down, by thinking they've won before the game starts. I also hope we get a strong referee, I thought Sweden were playing to try and get an England player sent off, by continually doing nagging little pushes and elbows, which the referee should have clamped down on much harder than he did.

I'd like to see England start against ukraine with Rooney as sub. The team has done well without him, and in my opinion, if he'd been eligiible to play against Sweden, he'd have been in trouble with the referee, by reacting to all the unnecessary pushes, elbowing, and other niggling fouls that the Swedish team did.

I'd also drop Terry, he studiously avoided being anywhere near Ibrahimovic, in the Sweden game, so that he didn't have his limitations exposed. His passing has caused problems in both games so far, and he is a liability due to his lack of pace. At times it seemed that the other defenders, (Johnson in particular), were having to do his job for him.

I've just used Skype for the first time today, to call the UK from Phetchabun, using the free video call. I talked with my mate for 20 minutes, no problems whatsoever. I'm on True 3G, costs 899 baht month for internet service, Skype uses the internet for video calls, so no further payment necessary.

For those who say No, I wonder why they came to live in LOS in the first place?

Better to join the Fish and Chips/English Pub brigade in Spain?

Each has their own answer. I didn't even want to integrate in my HOME country. Seems boring to me.

For once I agree with you ! I didn't want to integrate in my home country (UK) either.

Back to the topic, I don't things farangs ever truly integrate, at least in the eyes of Thai people.

I was in a car park today, and a little Thai kid shouted "Farang" at me, as though I was an alien, but at least the child's mother had the good grace to admonish the girl.

I'm curious about the taking of photos. We had a Princess visit our province a few years ago, and I was told (by the police), that it was illegal to take photos of the Royal Family, even though the Princess was just driving by in a car. Has the law changed or was the policeman just over-officious?

Good to see His Majesty's health is improving.

Does this mean you don't have to queue at Sizzlers any more ?