laobali

Nigeria, hub of world scams. They leave even the Chinese and the Russians in the dust.

That was where these scams originated in the 90s; they taught the rest of the world!

R.I.P Thailand. This could be the last nail in the coffin for western tourists. Its a shame because these folks were regular visitors to the Kingdom. Thailand, you can enjoy the low rent Chinese mobs from now on. There's billions of them.

I'm not being unkind but from reports and pictures of the recent appalling incident there is nothing about any of the people involved that could not be described as"low rent".

A bit unkind, but you have probably watched Jeremy Kyle too!

I have always enjoyed having a maid, and getting" basic services" dead cheap. Liberating the serfs is a terrible idea: thai people should be kept in servitude, where they belong.

Ironing my own shirts? The notion is simply absurd! Imagine if thai people start to use their brains and question the status quo...... it would end in disaster for the elite.

Long live the single internet gateway!

Freedom on the information highway, no way, I say!

VPN is the order of the day.....

Other than a direct satellite internet link, wouldn't your VPN be accessed via the single gateway too?

Anyway, this thread isn't about some provincial expat who has obvious issues with his homosexual feelings feelings about gays, but rather this overblown "news" story about a moderately attractive Bangkok transport worker.

nice try but i wont bite

Why were you first to respond to this article anyway? Have a 'thing' for Jing?

Probably most of the "gays" you have met you didn't know were gay. Yes, you do come off as a bigot and it seems you have good self knowledge.

I'm grateful for every compliment, i would like to revise that ,a self assured bigot with an open mind....oh an oxymoron.

Sometimes without the oxy

No thanks, i'm not gay

Maybe just a homophobe - but curious enough to open the post!

Id never do it, simply because Id always suspect I was being set up.

And in Thailand, probably more likely so than anywhere else.

The complete lack of law and order/justice is the main reason that I no longer live in Thailand.

I cannot understand why the rest of you are still there.

Some of us are stuck here economically. Sadly.

And others for the love of a partner and/or children. Obliviously.

How can posting information about corruption be called Lese Majeste???

Unless ...

2 days since the attack and she has these facts already. What a bunch of BS coming out of her mouth.

Where do they get these numbskulls from?Tesco Lotus or Makro?How can you tell if it has affected tourism after three <deleted> brainless!!!!!!

7/11 rejects?

I'm glad the source of this article was Coconuts, it has eased the Mind-Blown experience at least a little bit.............

D​ont want to rain on your parade its headlines in the Unmentionable other English language paper

Still its utter madness!

Both articles make it pretty clear it's a long-term plan and it is something that should be aimed for. Of course it is better to use well-trained local teachers than rely on foreign teachers forever. The headline that Coconuts uses is typical of the sensationalism of gutter rags.

Why ?. It will always be better to have a native speaker doing the teaching. When I went to school, the French teachers were always French. That way you get the correct pronunciation and inflexion as well.

I've yet to meet a Thai who understands future tense.

The future of English in Thailand gets tenser by the day.

No head and shoulders passport photo, instead, an angled body shot... yet someone still fell for it...

So typical of these (usually African) scammers to use two common English names as both first and surname (this one using two shortened versions!). But it's not only Thais who fall for them.

Being a paedophile is not a crime. Call him a child molester if he has been convicted of that, Get it right

You not knowing how to spell pedophile should be a crime.

Actuallly both spellings are acceptible.

Absolutely rite.

And may I add the the term paedophile (or pedophile) is particularly ill chosen because etymologically it means who loves children ... which would imply that all normally built parents, for example, are paedophiles

For good measure, I'll mention that homosexual is also a bad choice of words, because then anyone who's had sex with one of his own (even once) is technically a homosexual. What defines gays is obviously not the sexual aspect but the fact that they fall in love with another guy/gal. Here, the term homophile would be adequate. But no one will use it nowadays, of course, because it sounds too much like pedophile, so there we are : it's totally absurd.

That was just twopence of etymology by a logophile.

If you're going to be pedantic, then 'rite' is wrong - not to mention the misspelling of 'actually' above that.

Being a paedophile is not a crime. Call him a child molester if he has been convicted of that, Get it right

You not knowing how to spell pedophile should be a crime.

Actuallly both spellings are acceptible.

Only 'acceptable' is ...

In almost ALL cases where a deceased person is mentioned,it bothers me to just close the post without leaving a sincere condolences.

As in all human cases when death occurs there was a beginning, birth, parents, friends maybe wife/kids etc.we don't know.

My Condolences offered to the family involved.

family and friends are not likely to see your post. So whats the point?

About as much point as you telling him.

Thai cyber warriors?...OK...don't forget to turn the ON the computer before you go cybering guys....

Don't underestimate these guys, there aren't many here in Thailand that know jacksh.t about computer hacking, but a small group of these guys knows just as much as a westerner or easterner.

Bet they're Sino-Thai.

My five cent. We are basically done when we reach five to six years of age. As we grow older we polish the egdes and, in most cases, become more mature. To ask an adult to change his/her personality is virtually impossible. May Western women fail to understand that, and this is, I mean, one of the most common reason for divorses among Westernes.

When we meet a new partner we will soon realise the that person has many positive side, and that is why we became interested in the first place. But, we will also discover sides that we may not like very much. Keeping in mind that those so-called 'negative sides' will allways be there, one must ask oneself whether one can live with them or not. If the answer is no, then the only sensible choise is to break up and look elsewhere as the relation is doomed to fail.

You gave me some food for thought there – worth more than 5 cents.

AMERICANS NEED NOT APPLY.

Why ?

Because , people Laos , not like Americans .

I was in Cambodia a few years ago , i made the mistake of wearing a baseball cap ,

they gave me hasle big time , until I showed them my UK ID .

When I visit Laos or Cambodia , I wear a Trilby , and,, I am treated with due respect.

Bttopic , good info on investment in Laos ,thx.

in UK , you are lucky to get 2 percent interest , a sure sign that UK economy growth is zero. .

I don't know (or want to) the circumstances of your baseball cap experience, but it's nonsense to think that the Lao do not like Americans; many families have relatives living there anyway. The Vietnam war is long forgotten and Americans are treated no differently from other foreigners. Admittedly, (like Thailand) the urban locals seem to have reservations about the black/dark skins of Africans or to a lesser degree, South Asians; Dark skins denote 'low class' (like rice farmers), but it's hardly an issue. And nearly everyone wears baseball caps!

I think those 14/6% rates mentioned applied in Cambodia. Although it may have changed since, while I was living in Laos, the personal tax rate was 10% with a minimum salary of $500 per month; that increased to $800. For the several years I held a Business Visa (the 'friendly package'), that tax was never asked for or collected.

The cost of this 'friendly' business visa used to be $500 for a year, of which I think $350 went to the ministry, $100 or so to the middleman and the rest to the 'sponsor'. It rose to about $600 a few years ago, and then became more difficult. You do rely on the sponsor continuing to be willing to offer this on an ongoing annual basis.

Very interesting reading, nevertheless. I think after having lived in Laos for 8 years and I had $100,000 to invest, I'd go for fixed deposits for different terms in more than one bank.

A trustworthy Lao business partner (if you can find one) would certainly increase your chances of success.

Google "stay in Lao for a year" (include the quotes) to learn more about the one year business visa.

The 11% rate is there for a reason. It's called risk. The risk of expropriation of foreigner-owned assets, or being dudded by currency depreciation i.e. printing money, is priced into the rate.

You could probably get a 60% interest rate on your money in Zimbabwe, but that doesn't mean any sane person would invest there.

Rule No. 1, as previously posted, is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Rule No. 2 is never invest in anything you don't understand.

It's not a realistic comparison. Zimbabwe no longer has its own currency; now uses the USD. The Lao kip is a non-convertible currency; it can only be exchanged within Laos at rates controlled by the government. The term interest rates in Laos are kept relatively high to encourage mostly foreign cash investment which is then converted to kips and lent out at much higher rates for local mortgages and business loans; secured by property. Real estate prices have risen significantly in the past few years.

I was trying to illustrate the principle of risk with the Zimbabwe example. OK, are you going to send your US dollars to a Zimbabwe bank if it's offering a 60% interest rate?

If the Lao kip is a non-convertible currency, how do you get your principal and interest back in US dollars when the term deposit matures?

Rates controlled by the government? Secured by property? Yeah right. Where have I heard this before?

The 60% high risk analogy is still nonsense; the Lao deposit rates have only been around 10-15%, not unrealistic in a developing country, with a so-far reliable and better-regulated banking system.

For many years it's been possible to change or swap kips, baht and US dollars into cash at the daily published rates, and hold accounts in those currencies at Lao banks; probably others now too.

Also make transfers between Laos and foreign banks in certain major currencies. However, there are a limited number of overseas banks that transact business directly with Lao banks. Most use intermediary or correspondent banks which often increases the cost of transfers.

I don't know if this is still happening, but in the past year several of my friends living in Laos reported that it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain Thai Baht or U.S. Dollars there, one friend actually told me he was at an exchange booth and the worker there told him " you need to go to an exchange place"....he said he just pointed up at the sign above his head and asked them "what are you then?"

If this is still true of the exchange offices, then is it also true of interest accounts? I don't know the answer...but it would pay to find out. (literally)

Apart from the banks' own exchange booths, there are unofficial money changers used by local traders, some between Talat Sao and the BFL building; they may offer slightly better rates too.