arminbkk

I think the OP should just have a good talk with his female friend that keeps bringing women to his home.

He says he has known her for years so he should be able to have a good, polite but clear conversation with her

and explain to her that he is not interested in any relationship.

Another insight in what goes on in some temples.

I'm not saying this must apply to all temples,

but stories such as this one and no longer far and few.

I'll never look at monks the same again.

Only took 42 years to catch him

You have to admit, he looks like any regular Thai.

"........a year, the country could earn as much as Bt10 billion from the extra fee, he said. This money could be sent to the Finance Ministry and a specially assigned committee could allocate it to related agencies including the Public Health Ministry, which spends up to Bt300 million for tourists' healthcare per year."

Who says education is lacking in Thailand? You have to admit, they do know the concept of profit margin.

I would at least take the new air con out and put the old one back in.

And I would do that before I give notice.

Then again she already knows you bought a new one and she has already shown that she is difficult and she therefore will be difficult

once you move out.

I started a thread on the Travel Forum where I also asked about travel to and staying in Kanchanaburi.

I got some helpful replies there.

But does anyone know of decent reasonably priced (i.e. under THB 1,500 p/night) hotels in Kanchanaburi,

close to the relevant sites, from where one can book tours or arrange transport to the sites?

How many times have I not read on this forum how posters say that Thailand needs more "law enforcement" and

how laws should be followed more strictly, or how western countries

should adopt "same tough attitude toward immigration" as Thailand does, because western countries are flooded with

'useless' immigrants. Current thread on this is the "Farang !" thread.

For example, Thailand has the visa rule that if you are on a non imm O visa on the basis of marriage,

should your spouse die, your visa becomes invalid and you have x number of days to leave.

Now we see Denmark doing just that (i.e. enforcing tough immigration laws), and many posters disagree.

For the record, I disagree too. But there is a subjective (or selective) approach to an objective law. An approach not uncommon to Thailand.

Of course every country has that problem with laws in a case where a law is applied but it still seems unfair.

Then people want exceptions to be made, and then, and then......

First thing to do after arrived in Thailand is going to Udon (why not), but then go shopping in a mall ? I really don't understand this guy.

I'm sure he didn't meet her as a tourist in Sweeden and the "sightseeing" was not the purpose of his journey in Thailand.

I would not even go straight onward to Udon after a long flight form Europe.

And if she were just a tourist back then in Sweden, she would not have come from Udon to BKK and then drag him off

to Udon (by plane I presume) and straight into a mall.

It is more likely she was not a tourist there and that their interaction in Sweden was not that of a local

giving directions to a tourist and ending up having a friendly talk on the sidewalk.

Also, how was she even able to get close enough to his pocket to get his wallet with ATM card?

His first mistake was meeting her upon arrival at BKK airport.

Who are we kidding? He had certain intentions all along, brought about by a lower part of his body.

I can comment quite a bit on this but I will stick to:

In Thailand an older woman already divorced with kids, so a single mother, will have very little chance to marry again with a Thai.

Unless she is rich and beautiful. Thai men usually don't want older women, let alone a woman that already has kids.

Some Thais have even told me that if a Thai woman was married to a farang before, she is even more 'damaged goods'.

This woman has basically done it all, so according to Thai system/rules whatever you want to call it, sin sot is out of the question for her.

But of course, who is (has the balls) to tell all this at the family meeting, to the gf and parents, when sitting all nice in a circle??

Occasionally there will be a news story on television of a hi-so or rich couple getting married where 100's of millions of Baht are paid as sin sot.

I think last time was last week or the week before.

What I usually hear from Thais is that for regular people that are not well-off, the money is usually returned the next day.

I saw the video that was shot from the air, that was a massive fire, seemed at least one square km block.

If there are no casualties, that would be a miracle!

I've never been there, but we all know there a lot of big markets and shops that are just unsafe.

But let's face it, the owners choose to not make it absolutely safe to save money.

If they would build places like that in compliance with all building and fire safety codes and regulations

as in the West, goods and services would just be more expensive.

That is why things are expensive in the West. Here they don't do it and that is why things

are cheap, or at least relatively cheaper.

I hope nobody died or was injured there, but it seems hardly likely.

Will also be interesting to see how that story develops of that eye witness account of staff closing shutters to prevent

customers from leaving with goods. If I were a staff in such a situation, I would not even consider doing that.

Great replies, thanks!!!

I will check out all the links and see if I can prepare some advice for them.

Thanks again!

Would this be an example of going against the protection of "intangible cultural heritage"?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/674878-a-new-reason-to-jail-thais-for-thought-crime/?utm_source=newsletter-20131016-0809&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

They should do a study to see if eating spicy foods has bad health effects, over the course of a lifetime.

I once read that Thailand has a high rate of colon cancer patients.

Might be related?

In any case, spicy food is not for me, I cannot handle it.

Eating it is punishment for me.

Based on all the nose picking they do, Thais really should learn how to washing their hands properly.

That's why the wai and not shake hands.

You have to admit, it is practical.

I have good days and some bad days: on good days I will speak Thai clearly, on bad days I don't, even though I would be saying nothing new.

I never actually studied Thai, just picked up words, and still do, and apply them, and listening closely to how Thais do it,

how they form sentences.

My impression is that Thais also use a lot of phrases.

I work with Thais that don't speak English, so I have to use all of my vocabulary, however limited, to converse.

Thais will always say I speak Thai well, clearly, a lot.....but I would still rate myself as beginner, ok maybe above beginner level.

Due to my work, I have to speak Thai a lot, too much, I find I am more and more bored of it.

I cannot read/write Thai.

People react as if the hospital staff blatantly turned the woman away, almost as if they told her to p.... off.

I seriously doubt it went like that, would be very surprised if it did.

It was probably staff overly concerned with following the rules or consequences from superiors for taking

their own actions (i.e. admitting patients without payment). Or staff misjudged the emergency.

My point is, it is probably not that the staff did not care at all.

That being said, the woman should have received proper care. Should have at least been examined by a doctor.

The hospitals in question should take legal and moral responsibility. Thanks to Thais

expressing their disgust over this on the internet, this might just happen.

In my personal opinion, health care should always be available to people, "free".

(I say "free", but you know what I mean)

But of course, health care, anywhere has (been) turned into business.

However, that would be another thread topic entirely.

My aunt will be traveling to Thailand with a female friend.

She asked me how, if one wants to do it on their own, to best, but (semi-)budget, travel from

Bangkok to Chiang Mai, but on the way stop for a few days of sightseeing in Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi/River Kwai.

Is it necessary to book tours, complete or separate, for this, or can one just take public transport

and book hotel rooms upon arrival at each destination?

I would think one can take a bus or minivan from each mentioned destination to each destination

and find a hotel upon arrival.

But if budget tours can be booked, where?

Note that my aunt and her friend have never traveled to Thailand and are over 50 years old.

Also, are there good quality budget tours from Bangkok to Cambodia, specifically Angkor Wat?

Any advice appreciated!

My neighbours give the impression

that they don't care what I think about them, therefore..............

I read a few times on TV that one can stay for free at temples.

Might give that a try.

Get back to us and confirm.

I take the klong boat often.

Often people get wet, when two boats

pass each other or pass close to the sides.

Recently I heard a story (I haven't seen it myself) of a boat with all passengers surprised/amazed when a

woman got off the boat and had to step up high: she wore no underwear.

I hardly see any person on who gold looks good.

I think silver looks better, but that's personal opinion I guess.

"...a private hospital that allegedly refused to treat a pregnant woman in labor as she could not afford the operation."

I suppose none of the hospital staff involved asked themselves: "What would Buddha do?"

Most Buddhist practices I see (making merit, house blessing, car blessing, amulets etc), are aimed at improving one's own luck and wealth.

However, lets not make the choices of a few people at 2 hospitals count for the attitude of all Buddhists.

I read elsewhere (BP) that this 31 year old woman lives alone in Bangkok (not far from me actually) and this child would have been her fifth child.

She was 6 months pregnant and apparently went into premature labor.

Thaifriendly, Dateinasia, Trulythai.

I use Thaifriendly, but mainly for chats (no not the cam s..x variety one).

There are genuine girls on it and scammers/p4p.

I usually get the genuine ones actually. Whether that means I am lucky or unlucky, I'll leave that open.

One can often see from the photos and the profile info what type of girl it is.

A genuine one will not just focus the pictures on her chest etc.

I can safely say there are for sure normal girls/women on Thaifriendly looking for a real relationship.

But one should always keep common sense and tread with caution when pursuing a girl on the internet,

or any person on the internet for that matter.

Thailand is all about saving face. Image is the most important thing in thai culture. She made him look bad and his culture demanded revenge. Not unlike in India where a man will kill his wife for asking for a divorce or a Muslim father will kill a daughter if she marries a Christian or embarrasses the family.

Is it really that face-saving thing again? For the life of me I cannot understand how what this man did and how he did it will save/restore his face with his fellow Thais.

I think most Thais will be just as appalled by this as us foreigners.

If it is a cultural thing, where is it taught? How and where do Thais pick this up? Cannot be just Thai TV soaps.

I think this guy is just a scum lowlife, and not a bright one at that.