ebonykap

all i miss about australia is the 65 cent homebrand meat pies and optus 2 dollars for 500 mb phone plan.

Welll.....that's two more things than I miss

My condolences for your loss. I lost my rottie some years ago now, but I often think of her and your post revives the sad ending, but also all the great times we had together.

Unconditional love, wonderful companion and, not only a best friend, but also a member of the family. It's probably no consolation, but i know exactly what you are feeling.

RIP Dooley

If you "ask" someone a question, you are inviting the opportunity to give a "no" answer, or for them to winge, complain or come up with alternatives. A situation such as this demands a "tell", roughly interpreted as "do it or else!" So, you start off by saying "You must do this....you must do that.....".

I can give an example at the taxi rank outside Central Rama 9. Countless times taxis refuse customers. These people can be any race, sick and elderly, pregnant ladies, handicapped, it doesn't matter. If they don't want that fare for whatever reason, you see the casual shake of the driver's head and the wry smile on his face. It actually makes me sick, and I often feel like saying something or taking a photo/video but sensibility kicks in.

The other issue is that the taxis will bank up way beyond the rank, blocking off a complete lane of traffic. In Australia we had Inspectors who would patrol the ranks and, without warning, issue quite a substantial fine. Would that be so difficult here?

Sure have a look around Hat Yai.....should be a real blast!

But seriously, the furthest south I have been is Krabi, and I found the people there to be unsmiling and simply rude. Completely opposite to my experiences in central and north Thailand. Not sure if this is a Muslim thing or not, but it was prevalent with staff in the hotel, restaurants and travel agencies.

His Majesty.....truly a Great man.

I thought it was good, TAT have always (last 30 years) promoted heavily internal Thai tourism, this year will be very important for provincial resort & hotel owners to increase local guests as the independent farang travellers are not coming.

It's interesting that TAT measure success by arrival numbers, I'm arriving soon but only staying a few nights and then spending a month in Myanmar, then back for a few nights, I will still count as a success story, twice!

I agree. Tourism covers both domestic and international avenues. This video is obviously for the domestic target market, and would be quite easy to convert with a simple translation dub to English.

Liked it, but wish they would slow the changing of the frames....at my age I had trouble keeping up!

During the arrest, the suspects had allegedly attempted to bribe the officer with B30,000. According to police, a boyfriend of one of the suspects brought the cash to the officer but authorities quickly seized the money as evidence...

.........I bet they did!!

Later......police: "What ฿30,000?

In the land of Oz, the Indian taxi drivers started charging a luggage fee without authority. A law unto themselves, they would often not use the meter, take the "scenic route", refuse passengers and be extremely rude. No racism intended. It got to a stage where, at a taxi rank where protocol is to take the front taxi, most customers would avoid Indian drivers and take a cab further along the line. They were much worse than anything I have encountered here, and Indian taxi drivers are now by far the majority in the city I come from.

There is no justification for a luggage fee. If you have three passengers and luggage, it would probably take up the same room and weight as 4 passengers. If there were 4 passengers and a copious amount of luggage, take two taxis. If the driver assists with your luggage in and out of the vehicle, reward him for his excellent service.

I was asked once to take a Downs Syndrome child home from school in my car.

I was driving along when suddenly i felt a hard thud" on the back of my head and was quite painful. I looked down and saw one of the kid's shoes on the front seat. I turned around and asked her to please not do that.

I continued driving and less than a minute later...."whack", the other shoe nearly took of my left ear. It was a very stressful journey and just want to say that, even though I always treat handicapped people well and don't condone the action in the OP, they can be more than a handful at times!

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Who needs the Russians in Thailand anyway. Once upon a time the world talked about the "Ugly American" tourists. It didn't matter where they travelled they managed to upset everyone with their overly loud, superiority complex behaviour.

Well let me tell you from my experience with Russian tourists in Australia and especially Thailand they are arrogant, selfish egotistical people. At least the yanks and tourists of other nationalities attempt to use basic tourist Thai, but I have yet to hear a single Russian tourist ever attempt to speak even basic tourist Thai. They go into shops and speak Russian and get upset when the Thai shop owner cannot understand them. At least use the basics like Sawasdee ka/krup or khop kun ka/krup. They refuse to join in festivals like Songkran, and get violent when they have water put on them or even the wet powder put on their face. Last year in Pattaya I witnessed an 18 year old Russian girl assault a young Thai girl who was about 12 years of age because she wet her with a water pistol. Her father then came and slapped the young girl across the face. Needless to say other Russians came and also attempted to assault the young girl, but fortunately there were more tourists of other nationalities and Thais who came to the young girls aid. The police took the Russians away, but I'm sure they would have only been given a slap on the wrist and a minimal fine. This was just 1 of many similar incidents I have witnessed by Russian tourists. Thailand is better off without them. They have ruined both Pattaya and Jomtien for everybody else. Crime rates have increased in both these areas due to the Russian mafia gradually worming their way into Thailand, the same as they have done world wide. If the Ruble is so low and Russians can longer afford to travel, that's a good thing. Keep the Russians out of Thailand until they are prepared to at the very least make an effort to be sociable, accept that things are done very differently in Thailand and use basic tourist Thai with the locals. Until then, they should not be allowed in the country.

Surely you are talking about the "Ugly Australian " tourists. It doesn't matter where they travel they manage to upset everyone with their overly loud, superiority complex and drunken behavior. Australian men for the most part are arrogant, selfish egotistical people that can not hold their beer. Best thing to happen is their make believe dollar is going down the tank so we see less of them. An Australian lady once told me that the foulest mouthed animal in the world is the Australian male.

I've met many Australian women, in fact I married two of them (no, not at the same time!)

However, I have yet to meet an Australian lady.....seems like an oxymoron to me.

as their boss and trainer, you have just admitted your inability to motivate the peope under you.As your boss I would start by firing you and getting someone who can do the job I'm paying them for.

As the boss you have hired him.. you should take responsibility and fire yourself.

*you made a stupid remark now think again*

You can't motivate everyone and he is not responsible for the hiring.

If you're being paid to manage then you are expected to manage. Just firing people who don't do the required work is not managing. In fact dismissing people often is just going to undermine any respect you're given, make other employees feel insecure and mean productivity will be even worse. Fear is not going to inspire loyalty or "passion."

I have trained someone recently (been busy with it for over a year now) and she is not Thai but her ethics are good. Then again she is not that young and likes what she is doing.

Right. Training one person for over a year makes you a management expert. Try over-seeing 500 to 1000 people and you'll quickly realize that keeping everyone motivated & on task is a juggling act and it never ends. If everyone was so easily motivated and passionate about the work then they wouldn't someone to manage them. Dealing with people, keeping them happy and busy is the manager's job. Save the whining about how difficult it is. If you try to excuse yourself by blaming everyone else, it's no wonder there's no passion.

Suradit, I couldn't have said it better

Management - getting work done through others.

Manager's skills - Plan, control, lead, direct, organise, delegate, follow-up.

Manager's responsibilities to staff :

Good performers - encourage, support, improve, reward, promote.

Poor performers - train, develop, counsel, assess, re-train.

Non-performers - counsel, written warnings, zero tolerance, dismiss.

It is not the manager's responsibility to motivate their staff, but to identify the "key" to enable each staff member to motivate themselves ("self-motivation").

I could go on, but suffice to say that this was a proven method I used when sent to manage poor-performing retail outlets in Australia. These were supermarkets with between 150-200 staff. It was hard work at first, but poetry in motion as it bore fruit. Unfortunately, most managers are unskilled or unaware of the importance of staff as a company resource. Yes, it may be even more difficult in Thailand. I don't know because I have no experience in business here, but I have met a lot of Thais who are hard working and intelligent.

It could also be that HR is the problem. In my experience, Human Resource Managers could not manage, had no idea how to spread resources efficiently and were in no way human! In fact, operations ran much smoother without their interference/input, so I tended to by-pass them.

My rant for the day.....but also my passion

Cadbury Crunchie bars and Nestle Chokito bars.

Farmers Union Iced Coffee.

If they spoke to beach-goers on Wednesday, they would only speak to those who don't want to sit on a beach chair in the shade and would rather sit on the sand and get sunburned. Those who do want to sit on a chair in the shade wouldn't be there, so for me the headline is misleading.

Personally, I love to sit on the beach, but I will only do it if I can sit on a chair in the shade. When I go to Pattaya, Dongtan beach is my place of choice. I don't mind paying a small price for use of a chair and umbrella and all the facilities, i.e food and drink readily available, massage, pedicure, ice cream, toilets etc.

I've been going there for years and I've never had a problem with the operators. Their prices are reasonable and their service is good.

If they take all that away, then I wouldn't go to the beach, and I'd think twice about going to Pattaya/Jomtien, or any other beach in Thailand for that matter.

I agree with all you have said.....now, replace the water and I might just consider a visit!

No reason to doubt you.

Bangkok is the only office that is a giving 60 day extensions. I have not seen a report of any other office doing it.

Why is it only happening in Bangkok? I swear that I read somebody from Pattaya stating it also. My school also is still going with 2 days of lessons a week amounting to 4 hours, none of this 8 hour business being talked about, then again it could be different from place to place.

I am just so surprised that at being a 4 year student I was not even quizzed a single bit on my Thai, he just spoke English to me the entire time.

I am sure you don't doubt me but there will be some out there who will, for whatever reason there are some people who bash and automatically dislike someone if they are on an ED, I don't know why..

Hi monk, glad it was plain sailing for you. I had the same experiences with 3 years of ED extensions.

You are right about the bashing. I got fed up with some posters who would say ALL people on ED visas MUST be rorting the system (admittedly SOME are). My plan originally was to come to Thailand and study Thai for 1 year while I decided whether I wanted to stay. I found the language difficult, so I ended up doing 3 years. On a long-stay (retirement) extension now and couldn't be happier. I would readily admit I used the system, but I didn't abuse it....there is a difference.

Anyway, ignore the "holier than thous" as I do, they probably can't speak Thai and are envious. Ignore them and they WILL go away.....as soon as you exit the site!

Cheers!

What's happening with the British report? I thought it was due out on 6/1/15.

Anybody know, or have I missed it?

I went to Central World for the Countdown a couple of years ago. Biggest cattleyard I have ever seen.

Before the night was over, I was wishing someone would shoot me!

Shit....I'm left-handed!! I guess my days in SEA are numbered?

I was a bit of a lad as a teenager, I guess we all were to some extent. I had just bought my first car (a Datsun 1600) and was cruising around town with my 3 mates in the car. It was a great night, good friends, plenty of "chicky babes" around to gawk and whistle at. Why the hell would I need a seat belt....no cop, pig, fuzz is going to tell ME what to do.

So, I had been driving around for about 3 hours on this glorious Friday evening, when for some reason I just had this thought "I s'pose I better put my &lt;deleted&gt; seat belt on". Two minutes later, I was distracted by my mates in the back seat, turned around to talk with them and simply forgot all about the road, the car, the driving. I hit a concrete electric pole head on at 60km/hour. All of us had our seat belts on and, other than my cracked knee cap, survived relatively unscathed. To this day, I don't know what force compelled me to suddenly wear my seat belt, but I do know that without it I would not be here today.

After that, in my mind seat belts became mandatory. The first thing i did, before even starting the engine, was to put on my seat belt. And if any passengers didn't have their seat belts on, we weren't going anywhere.

I was a lucky one, I survived. Unfortunately, thousands don't and no amount of telling will affect their behavior. It took this experience to change mine.

It was over a year ago, but when I applied for my second ED Visa in Yangon it was a 2 day turn-around. Of course, a lot may have happened since then.

In Australia they are taught only to shoot at the chest. No head shots or leg shots. I think it is the same in most countries.

Center of Mass. Double Tap. i.e. right between the nipples 2 shots

Cambodja drill... one double tap in the chest, + one under the nose

Maybe I'm a pacifist, or perhaps I put too high a value on human life. Surely, a perpetrator with a knife and the law enforcement officer 20 metres or more distant, a shot to incapacitate rather than "murder" would be more appropriate. Hip, groin, leg, kneecap would suffice. If the situation became such that the officer's life was in danger, then resort to the chest shot. Already way, way too much violence in the world IMHO.

I always thought Thailand was a reference to "South Land"

South in Thai phonetics - dtai, not tai