Asiantravel

Why don't you at least wait until you can see the outcome of the current emerging markets instability before making any decision?

One of the mainstays ( or so they keep saying ) of the pattaya condo market ( i.e. Russians ) are now starting to get hit financially and if there are less of them around to buy all these empty condos then I can't see where the demand is going to come from?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ruble-weakens-as-emerging-markets-get-hit-making-russians-wary-of-costly-food-phones/2014/01/25/1d8805a8-85ce-11e3-b85b-b305db87fb90_story.html

I wouldn't have thought this is a good omen for the stock market ?

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Lenders-tighten-household-criteria-30226054.html

How will you be sure the test rider will bring the bike back at the end of the test? I suggest that you hold his/her ID card or some other item of value.

Yes, their ID or passport.

Plus, surely you can find some large area, depending where you are, such as Muang Thong Thani exhibition Centre in Bangkok or someone similar such as a sports stadium they have in pattaya which has a large parking area where essentially everyone goes to learn to drive.

that way a potential buyer doesnt have to go out on the open road and you could watch them

Following up on my first post- i just bought 300,000 baht of LPN and 300,000 of HMPRO - both have dividend dates in April @4%. (Unfortunately, both also already have increased in price this morning 1-2% before i bought).

Also, noticed that the biggest global Thai stocks ETF (MSCI thailand) has increased 5 % over the last month (and jumped up today)- the people with money seem to think this crisis is not as bad and some others believe...

My 4 other big holdings (ADVANC, KBANK, BANPU, PTT) which i have had for @ a year also have dividend payments coming up so i hope to start making money again on thai stocks after the last poor 3-4 months. (Also UBS recommended ADVANC as a buy for this week, which should help).

read an article in Bangkok Post today entitled “ a rotten harvest “ and see if you feel the same

OP I'm also with SCB . Has there been any news about SCB specifically?

Unfortunately some of us don't have the luxury of taking the money out if it is part of the retirement visa process.

The Suthepistas have won. Most of them can go home, leaving a symbolic stage from which to pontificate to the media.

The Constitution clock is now ticking.

Too late for the alarm bells to start ringing for the PTP. The 30 days is the time period in which the House must elect a PM - as there is no House in session, this power passes to the National Assembly, which is obviously then formed of just the Senate. The Suthepistas can wait this out without breaking sweat.

I haven't looked at the history of the Thai Constitution; which sections were changed and when. However, it should be crystal clear that all roads lead to the Senate. Democracy is only allowed to function with the agreement of the senators. Independent agencies exist to keep people "in dependence".

Thailand looks very similar to the Republic of Venice.

I fail to see how you can declare any one has won? And even if it is as you say, it is no more than just winning a battle.

No one is going to win the war until everyone agrees to listen to and meet the needs of the rural Thais who again are clearly shown to represent the majority in this country and no matter what size and shape any " reforms " take, in the end you can't disguise these facts no matter how hard you try.

From what I can see a " People's Council " would simply try ignore the views of rural Thailand and would certainly not give them the number of seats at the " People's Council " table they would deserve.

What kind of democracy is that?

I don't know about Thailand looking like Venice but unless and until people can come to grips that the opposition simply don't have the numbers compared to the rural vote, Rome will continue to burn while “The Suthepistas “ fiddle.

I bought one of those turbo ovens,looks like a glass bowl with a robot on top!!

Paid around 1100bht,best purchase ever,have cooked roasts,baked bread,cooked pizza,pretty much anything a normal convection oven does.

Fits nice an easy on top of kitchen bench,and has a self clean feature on it as well.

I, also bought a halogen oven recently,

fantastic!

Tesco lotus currently has an Otto branded oven for 990thb..

Personally I'm not so keen on floppy microwaved stuff.

Halogen oven cooks up lovely food.

I love my OTTO oven and you can cook so many things in it. It has been such great value

I've also got a separate microwave oven only used occasionally for heating up precooked food.

for the last few months the great majority of tourists go strait from bkk to don muang, train and bus stations.

as not a tourist I'm going tomorrow to the polling station to record on my camera everything what;s happening there, just if any evidence for the courts is needed. I will use an application on my smartphone used for recording road accidents - if nothing happens the older film is re-recorded, ad finitum

You are either very brave or foolish. This is not a dress rehearsal

Wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse before it gets better. Thailand has been growing for years without a shock, and the political situation is more of deadlock than a catastrophe.

I'll throw my adventurous money in if/when there's a coup or major upheaval and the SET drops 10-15% in a single hit.

The SET moved relatively little immediately after the coup in 2006, so no precedent there, so your 10-15% might have been plucked out of thin air.

but in 2006 Thailand didnt have public debt that totalled 5.39 trillion baht

according to the CIA factbook Thailand's total public debt (2012) was 45.7% of GDP. most governments of industrialised countries would jump with joy if their public debt would be that low.

Maybe but with comments from the likes of Suthep claiming the government is broke there is a huge likelihood of such debt getting a lot higher

If Dennis Rodman has problems with alcoholism he possibly has problems regarding the abuse of other substances that he would have access to in North Korea - that he would never be able to consider in the USA

as many as two-thirds of North Koreans have used methamphetamines.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/30/world/asia/north-korea-drugs/index.html

Thanks for the reply's.

I have a 1 year business visa for India and i have to admit Delhi Airport immigration are the most painful I've ever dealt with, everything is scrutinized and every visit is a pain. Leaving is far worse than arriving.

I WAS looking at a year in BKK

As a matter of interest do you say that because they make you produce a tax clearance certificate every time you leave?

Bad day for the reds. This guy was supposed to be exonerated and compensated by the Thaksin amnesty bill for the inconvenience he suffered by those pesky law enforcement officers and nosy journalists. My heart bleeds for him!

Put your brain in gear before starting your mouth

So, who's planning to leave Thailand. I already have a Plan B. Will probably leave for a while anyway, as it's just getting worse and worse and could explode at any time. I don't want to be around when that happens.

If you left, where would you go. My next choice has always been Phnom Penh, but that seems to be going the same way.

Malaysia maybe or Europe for a while. Oh, hang on, there's a civil war about to start there as well.

Vietnam ? you can stay there now on long visa ( that was unthinkable 20 years ago )

If you have your own oven at home I recommend CASINO brand pizzas imported from Europe. Casino is owned by the parent company of BIG C

these pizzas are really tasty

You must be joking right ? You want to eat an imported frozen pizza instead of a freshly baked one over here ? And probably at the same price

Sent from my SM-P601 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

wrong

Wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse before it gets better. Thailand has been growing for years without a shock, and the political situation is more of deadlock than a catastrophe.

I'll throw my adventurous money in if/when there's a coup or major upheaval and the SET drops 10-15% in a single hit.

The SET moved relatively little immediately after the coup in 2006, so no precedent there, so your 10-15% might have been plucked out of thin air.

but in 2006 Thailand didnt have public debt that totalled 5.39 trillion baht

That's a lot of people in that small van! And it was caused by a parked car. These people believe they have a right to park anywhere. <deleted>???

Absolutely nothing new about that? How many times do you see cars double parked or even triple parked around the city centre?

not to many

I can't see there being too much difference between standards in Bangkok and here

So why did it make number 2 on this list?

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/01/29/feb-fun-traffic-police-ordered-crack-down-13-traffic-law-violations

If you have your own oven at home I recommend CASINO brand pizzas imported from Europe. Casino is owned by the parent company of BIG C

these pizzas are really tasty

That's a lot of people in that small van! And it was caused by a parked car. These people believe they have a right to park anywhere. <deleted>???

Absolutely nothing new about that? How many times do you see cars double parked or even triple parked around the city centre?

Want to see if we get the same "mind your own business, solve your own problems at home" comments.

Farang don't quite understand Thais.

It is not that Thais do not want election.

The majority people want election after reform.

but Suriya4 perhaps the reason we don't quite understand you is that you seem a little too trusting of people like this who want to simply to snatch power.

What guarantees are there for the Thai people as to how long this so-called ‘ reform ‘ process will take? You have plenty of examples from history of fascist leaders who won power surreptitiously but then never gave it back to the people.

Not half enough questions have been asked regarding the " fine print " of Suthep’s exact plans or about the people he intends to install on this so-called People's Council

I don't use the beach road route that often (tend to use the Soi Buakow southerly route more). So last night I took the beach road baht bus for the fist time since the bus stop initiative. The traffic was light so I don't know if this is typical or not. The driver did appear to be respecting the stop areas. However, obnoxiously, he was BEEP BEEP BEEPING his horn repetitively each and every time he approached on the areas. Noise pollution city if most of the drivers are doing the same. What are your experiences with the new system? Similar to mine?

Another thing, I didn't see even one passenger wave down my bus off the bus stops so I don't know if Mr. BEEPER would have stopped for them or not ...

I cycle down this road in the morning about 9 -10 a.m. so I follow these vehicles.

I see no discernible difference in their behaviour.

They still stop wherever they want and the paintwork at the vacant bus stops look remarkably clean through lack of use

The government is absolutely right not to cancel the elections.

You can't give in to bullies and thugs. Law and order will fall if you do.

Was that your opinion in 2010 when the red shirts were using terrorism to push for early elections?

But a big difference in fighting for the right to have an election compared to now where they are fighting to try to STOP an election

Well there doesn't seem so much point in Thai people " waiing " to each other any more if they can descend so easily and quickly into such unprovoked violence .

Whatever happened to the key phrase of “ Thai rak Thai “ (Thai Love Thai) or wasn't it even there in the first place?