womble

I beleive it is the Monarchs wishes to return the country to self sufficiency.

Perhaps what we are seeing is the old folks incharge simply carrying out what they believe are his wishes regardless of the impacts and without doing it in a thoughtout way that would be beneficial.

One thing the majority of Farang managers are no good at is controlling the Thai staff. If they shout or lose their temper there will be serious problems, and unfortunatley they often end up shouting because Thai's don't like being told what to do by a farang.

In general Thai management are often shoddy, just take a look at most KFC, tesco's etc, he last three times I ordered a zinger burger they had run out, why doesn't the manager address this issue, who is doing the stock control? I have never seen a fast food place run out of anything anywhere else in the world.

In the hospitality industry there is a real shortage of decent Thai hotel management, this is made very obvious by all the farang hotel managers.

There are some Thai's that can do the job just as well as any of the farang, just not enough, and this goes for just about any industry.

I believe the reason is lack of education and alsomany people who are perfectly capable of the jobs are discriminated against from a young age slowing them down. Many will not reach management because they have dark skin or are not particulary attractive (how ridiculous).

The most worrying thing here to me is the general lack of ambition, so few have it and that is why we see such poor management in general accross the board. There are many senior managers who are only in the job because of who there family is or what they look like, I admit this is sometimes the case back in the west, but they must still have a certain level of comptenecy, here sometimes a child could do a better job.

"This is Thailand": A phrase oft quoted by a.) Foreigners to the kingdom who come across yet another reason for total bemusement. and b.) Thai persons who consider themselves of import when explaining such policfies causing bemusement to non Thais.

Policies such as these are usually referred to as the "Thai Way", a phrase that has come to mean, "We will not learn from your mistakes, or those we have ourselves made in the past. We wish to repeat said mistakes ad infinitum ourselves."

These policies are normally adopted for one of two reasons. i.) Acute xenophobia or ii.) The desire to retain the status quo and constant absolute power for the oligarcic kleptocracy who have controlled, and fed off, the country for generations.

spot on

ahh, so how do you think it would effect Thailand as a country?

Thailand will remain to be #1 rice exporter for quite a while.

Seriously, I don't know and I don't care. I'm not a macroeconomist. I do care about my company. Next border run i'll be spending in KL to see what the posobilties are over there. You know, eggs and baskets ? I can't imagine others *not* taking similar measures.

actually vietnam how holds that crown, and there are many others that they will more than likely take away from Thailand..........

Don't bother with making the cookies, just eat the dough, it's tastier!!!

Issan Brit say........

"Secondly - FERANG ARE RICHER THAN THAIS - its a fact. Paying an extra quid for something when we can easily afford it is fine by me - stop being such tight fisted @*$&@($%&$($"

Pdaz replies...........

"Kind of a broard sweeping statement... Might be true if you are the only farang living in a mud hole village somewhere in Isaan.. But in reality there are many many Thais who are wealthier than their farang counterparts.. I have an excellent salary (by western standards) but have several Thai friends who have a far higher net worth.. Be that as it may it doesn't make double pricing acceptable.. Just because I am richer than my neighbor should I pay more for my electricity or water ? You will also notice that the wealthier Thais are far more likely to check their bills and be concerned about the cost of items they buy.. They realise that anybody (whatever nationality) here with money is a target for scams and rip-offs..so they are cautious..So don't try the guilt trip ''we are richer so its okay to pay more'' nonsense.. If you feel so guilty about it give you money to the local Wat.. If you pay over the odds here Thais will just think you are foolish..nothing more.. In twenty years here (I'm fluent in Thai and canboth read and write) I have never heard anything from a Thai which would make me think different.."

Yeah, that's the funniest thing, all the Thai's would just see him as a complete mug, and someone easy to take advantage of.

And us expats view you pretty much the same, anyone who accepts being overcharged and ridulcules those that don't................

Well............................

I'll let the rest of you be the judge of that.

All the restaurants and stores that pay large kickbacks to taxi/tuk-tuk drivers when they take unexpecting tourists to their door to sell overpriced stuff should be dealt with as well. Very common rip-off-technique if you ask me, part of the same problem.

It's just part of the culture here. The idea is to outsmart someone to part with their money. There's nothing racially insulting in it. The ethnic Thais learned this approach from the chinese merchant class immigrants who, as you are probably aware, pretty much have the run of the place now. It was easy pickings for them - and thus you now see the fruits of their er, .. labour

In other words Noi the pineapple seller, isn't charging you more for your pineapple cause you're farang. It's only cause she knows you have more money than her and she will be able to get away with it - with little or no consequence - if found out.

You'll notice she probably wouldn't try that approach if some big-hair lady climbed out of her Benz to buy a pineapple...cause she would be afraid of the consequences if found out.

It's a cruel but fair world..caveat emptor.

This is true, they try to rip each other off aswell, it's not just because your a farang it's because they think they can get away with it, the thing is here is to know the price of what you are buying, then it is harder to be ripped off. You should also always agree a price for any service or good before it is used or consumed, if you do this you should be ok.

I have some beach land on a 30 year lease, the idea was to sell some other land that I have to pay for construction, but with the way the property market is it looks like that may be difficult.

As a result I am considering borrowing against the lease and also against other plots of land which I own in order to get the $ to develope the beach land into a small resort.

Does anyone know if this is possible, what % you can borrow and how to go about it.

Or can we simply not do it?

Womble,

That's not correct. I've talked to influential local Samuians and they think there's nothing wrong with BKK Airways raisinf their prices (on selected seats) since they haven't raised the rates for a long time.

Maybe we can get the old 'why don't they take care of the Taxi Meter mobsters first' discussion going instead.

BTW, Donsak doesn't have an airport, but a little bit outside of Surat Thani there's one.

Yeah I meant flying from Surrat..........

I'm sure local samuians like anyone else have varied opinions on the matter, the ones I spoke to were not happy with fare increases..... I'm sure if you spoke to a local who owned stock in Bkk Air they would be thrilled.

Yes lets start the taxi mob thread again..........

I love letting off steam on that one.

is the K Pha Ngan airport really coming.

who is gonna own it

coz a boat to KPN then a cheap flight would hurt them bad i thinks

Personally i'll be taking the ferry to Donsak and flying from donsak. Even if it only saves me a small amount i'll do it out of principle...........

Talking to local Samui Thai's and other influential Thai's with business here, I don't think they will let them get away with it, were certainly not happy about a rise in price before when it was anounced, and speaking to a couple of Thai mates today, after the bombs in bangkok, the last thing they are hoping for is rises in costs for tourists coming to samui.

Monopolies are bad news........

It will damage the island if they are raised above what they are now. Especially when fuel prices are falling.

Their excuses are lame, every other airline had costs asociated with moving airports, they are not raising prices so much, this is pure greed.

Samui - Bangkok route is already hugely profitable, now they want to use their monopoly to squeeze even more out of us.

They better not raise those prices, i'll boycott......

Not sure if I buy that.........

From what I see demand is vertually non existant at present, dunno where they get the idea of 20% rises in price when nothing much is selling.

I know for a fact that in the past they were certainly illegal for road use on samui.

Perhaps that has changed now that the roads have deteriorated further and are now classified as off road

Seriously though someone must have changed the rule in order to sell them or somehow magically it was changed and everyone started selling and hiring them.

Womble,

Dive Supply is a shop on the ring raod, coming from Tesco's towards Lamai, on your left hand side, shortly before Samui - BKK hospital. It's on the same block of houses as Il Molino.

Thanks.......

I'm also looking for some navigation charts of these waters, anyone know if I can get these on the Island?

TAX PROBE / DEFENCE AGAINST CRIMINAL CHARGES

Potjaman, Bannapot have 15 days

SURASAK GLAHAN

Potjaman Shinawatra, wife of the deposed prime minister, and her step-brother have 15 days to defend themselves against criminal charges of collusion in tax evasion, otherwise the case will proceed, Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) spokesman Sak Korsangruang said yesterday. A formal notice of criminal charges against Khunying Potjaman, her step-brother Bannapot Damapong and another two accused people will be sent to them today as they failed to acknowledge the charges before an inquiry team of the ASC yesterday, said Mr Sak, who is a member of the inquiry sub-panel.

The relatives and their four close aides are charged with criminal offences under the Revenue Code for colluding to lie to authorities about the transfer of 4.5 million Shin Corp shares worth 738 million baht, in order to avoid tax liability, in 1997. They are also accused of violating the Criminal Code.

The four others charged are Duangta Vongpakdi, the Shinawatra family's domestic helper; Kanchanapha Honghern, a secretary to Khunying Potjaman; Wanchai Honghern, a broker for the deal; and Pranee Wetchapruekpitak, Khunying Potjaman's close assistant. Only Ms Pranee and Mr Wanchai showed up yesterday to meet Mr Sak's team to acknowledge the charges, as scheduled. They will have to defend themselves by Jan 19. Both declined to talk to the press.

The ASC was informed by lawyers for Khunying Potjaman, Mr Bannapot and Ms Kanchanapha that the four others were busy and could not come, said Mr Sak. Those who failed to show up yesterday will have to defend themselves against the charges either in person or in writing within 15 days of their receipt of the notice sent out today, he said. Otherwise they will be seen as having waived the right to defend themselves against the charges.

Noppadol Pattama, a lawyer for the Shinawatra family, has said the relatives would defend themselves in writing.

They have been told they have to go in person........

They really do think they are above the law.

I say put them in Jail, revoke bail and really teach them a lesson.

If nothing is done then the government will lose even more credibility, not that there is much left to lose!

should have dropped them earlier if they wanna weaken the baht......

The economy is headed for bad times, doubt this will be enough.

I guess we'll be told that prolonged negative moves in the market are due to instability caused by the bombs, and nothing at all to do with the Bank of Thailand monkeys.

Meanwhile, some excellent stock pickings available right now, though some may decide to wait for even better.

Do you really think now is a time to buy?

No elected government in sight and a political situation that will more than likely deteriorate.

Organised crime in Thailand..........

Don't make me laugh......

Disorganised maybe (like everything else here)..........

It's great here tho, cos you know who they are.....

They wear uniforms.

The water can flow both ways round an island creating 4 "high tides" in a day.

This happens with the Isle of Wight in the UK.

Places like Pattaya seem to have only one tide in a day.....................

Some strange effect from the Gulf of Thailand.

The tides here are unusual not because it's an Island, it's effected by a strange phenomenom that causes unusual tides in other areas of the world such as gulf of mexico, gulf of carpentaria etc.........

i'm pretty sure though that at certain times of the month there is one tide and at others one big and one small...........

Does anyone know the frequency of tides in samui, it seems maybe there is 1 a day at certain times of the month then perhaps 2 tides with one being bigger than the other at other times of the month. The height also seems to be greatly affected by Winter and summer.......

Anyone know exactly how the tides here work?

Also looking for a set of tide tables if anyone knows where I can find such a thing.

Womble,

Samui Dive Supply sells tide tables.

Where is that?

Potjaman, Bannapot won't meet ASC

(Bangkokpost.com)

The wife of the deposed prime minister, Potjaman Shinawatra and her step-brother would stay away from the Assets Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, despite orders to appear in order to acknowledge a charge of tax evasion over share transfers.

Family legal adviser Noppadol Pattama said Khunying Potjaman and Bannapot Damapong would not meet ASC as the panel had scheduled because they were on business trips abroad.

http://bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/break...s.php?id=115723

Does anyone know the frequency of tides in samui, it seems maybe there is 1 a day at certain times of the month then perhaps 2 tides with one being bigger than the other at other times of the month. The height also seems to be greatly affected by Winter and summer.......

Anyone know exactly how the tides here work?

Also looking for a set of tide tables if anyone knows where I can find such a thing.

Will we ever see the names of prominent politicians firmly put forwrd as guilty with evidence to prove?????

As we all know, when they 'rule' something out it's probobally going to happen, or at least they are very worried that it could do.

I do not have any inside info and I am not trying to be wise.

This is just the way I view the situation from the evidence that I have seen.

I do not think Thaksin would do such a thing, it's too risky and too obvious, he has too much to lose and nothing to gain.

Look back at the car bomb, these two situations are both very similar in certain respects, it is highly possible that both have been carried out by a third party.

I think it highly likely they will make their move soon or escalqate things further.

Why would they need a few officials to publically deny the possibility of a counter coup if it wasn't a real risk...............

Think aboutv it, it makes sense, I could ofcourse be completely off track, but I truly believe there may be much more to this than the obvious.

This is not the work of Thaksin.

This is a third party.

There will be a counter coup soon.