womble

I think a couple of years back they changed a rule so that by paying entry to one national park you could enter other national parks on that day for no extra charge.

the government , any government , cannot control areas infested with insurgent terrorists , witness iraq , ireland , sri lanka ,israel , spain ,chechnya etc.etc.etc.

you either have to have meaningful dialogue with them and sort it out at the negotiating table or kill them all.

its an insoluble problem.

thaksins statements are political rhetoric , nothing more. he is obliged to say something , but he is no orator and cant come up with anything better.

I dissagree here, Thaksin has proved himself to be fine public speaker, just look at him at work at those public rallies, he definatley knows how to fool the gulible masses. I rarely agree with what he says, and yes it is political rhetoric, but this does not make him a bad public speaker.

That actually makes it very exspensive. 200 is actually about right, I don't agree with duel pricing, but I think 200 is not too much to pay. 400 on the other hand is alot to fork out for entry to anywhere in Thailand.

Why can't they just increase slightly, maybe 10-20 baht. Doubling is greedy and shows it's not due to increased costs of running the parks etc but channeling the funds to elsewhere. Maybe governments empty coffers?

I regulary order things mail order and always do the same thing.

When you order tell the shop to put a false invoise in the package. For most things like electronics I get them to put ex-dem, maybe for underware thats not the best idea.

Eg. I had a package the other day, it all cost around 600US, i got an invoise put in at 70$ ex dem and paid 600 baht tax. instead of around 10,000 tax.

You have to except that when importing into thailand you WILL sometimes have to pay tax.

Should pay the same rate for thai(s) and farang - thats the disappointing part!

Oh well, those westerners working as extras are more than likely residents or long stayers, the extra bit of baht they earn will help cover the extra they are forced to pay for double pricing standards during their stay.

When they do away with two tier pricing i'll join you in the call for equal pay.

anyone know who instals the south African satalite system and how much it costs?

one would have to be pretty resourceless to trust their 'wife' to be the owner of the houses, especially if we're talking an expensive house... 'wives' come and go, ESPECIALLY in Thailand.... just my .02

What kind of marriage do you have anyway! Must a sad marriage without trust.

The fact that most normal marriages end in divorce, and the fact that many relationships here are not what they seem due to the thai partner getting married for $ not love. I think thats good enough reason not to put your assets into your spouses name.

There are many variables that affect the marriage from both sides, as in the west your wife could find a lover and leave you, how would you feel being kicked out of your house for her to move a bf in.

Or imagine your wife dies, she may well have left it to her family, great booted out again so they can move in. It can't be left to you as foriegners can't own property.

Similar to a pre nup (which incidently I would definatley make any future western wife sign no matter how unromantic) it's a way for men to protect their assets.

One thing that gets on my nerves is all the people who make out they have the perfect marriage and somehow because others choose not to put 100% trust into their spouse and therethore risk important assets they somehow have inferior relationships.

By the way i'm not married.

how about spending this wasted $ on mending a few of the roads, building taxi stands through town to relieve congestion, and generally upgrade the crumbling infrastructure that is never addressed.

Why would anyone expect a TRT library to promote anything else but TRT doctrine?

No one would go into a Christian library and expect to see a detailed explanation of Buddist or Hindu philosophy.

Comparisons with Hitler seem to be a little bit hysterical.

The vatican libary carries many forms of literture, not all pro christian.

Many christian priests have a great interest in other religions and read up on them often, and why shouldn't they compare religions, a homeopathic doctor will more than likley compare his work to that of a general practitioners.

As with most murders in thailand it is more than likley business related although there are a number of other possibilities.

and nothing for anyone south of bangkok, north of the deep south.

About the only true thing this guy has ever said is when he let the voters know only regions that voted TRT would get handouts.

using an agent does not protect you at all. The agent will not check the land titles, it is up to yourself to carry out your own due dilligence and this is where a reputable lawyer comes in .

Before handing over any cash you should check the land titles at the land office, then you can have a simple agreement to sell signed when you pay an initial holding deposit this can be very simple and need only be one page with a few clauses. You can use this whilst a proper sales agreement is drawn up and when that is signed you can hand over a full deposit. The rest of the $ should be handed over on the day you transfer the land.

I'm sorry that you lost money, but would you buy land or a house in your own country without a lawyer?

It amazes me just how many people come to a country where they can't speak the language or read any of the documents, yet they still buy without the use of a lawyer.

That is why there are so many cases of rip offs.

Today the Erawan shrine was put back after being repaired. Thaksin also returned to work, given that Thaksin is hugely supisticious is this a coincidence or something more?

Fear of ghosts in tsunami-hit areas and instability in southern Thailand exacted a devastating toll on Thailand's 2005 visitor arrivals.

Final figures for 2005 have not yet been released. However, some very significant clues are contained in the final figures for January-September, which were released last week and show total arrivals of 8.18 million, down 3.19% over the same period of 2004.

The final tally for 2005 is expected to be around the 10 million mark, well short of the target of 13.3 million and about the same as that recorded in the worst years of tourism this decade _ 2001, the year of the 9/11 attacks, and 2003, the year of Sars and the US-led attack on Iraq.

The shortfall threatens to become another embarrassing political liability for the in-limbo Thaksin administration which coughed up record budgets for tourism revival in the aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami, and is still struggling with the unrest in the country's three southernmost provinces.

It may also affect the future of TAT governor Juthamas Siriwan, who, in spite of reaching the retirement age of 60 this year, is rumoured to be seeking an extension of her four-year contract due to expire in September. Having developed close ties with Somkid Jatusripitak, the caretaker deputy prime minister, on the basis of her tourism marketing credentials, she needs to show results to justify the huge amounts spent last year.

Poor figures will put Thailand in a bad light relative to other Asean countries, nearly all of which reported arrivals growth last year: Singapore up 7.4% to 8.94 million, Malaysia up 4.6% to 16.43 million and the Philippines up 14.6% to 2.6 million. Thailand will land up in the same camp as Indonesia, another formerly high-flying destination when it was politically and economically stable.

An analysis of the visitor profiles for January-September 2005 (by country of residence), posted on the TAT website last week, provided clear indicators of the sources of and reasons for slowdown:

- A noticeable trend is a steep fall in first-time visitors to 3,211,225, down 23.77% over the same period of 2004.

- The key markets of Northeast Asia were worst hit. First-time visitors from China were down 25.51% to 335,674, Hong Kong -58.90% to 111,137, Korea -17.35% to 406,980, Taiwan -50.72% to 163,469, and Japan -23.49% to 312,845. First timers from another key market, Malaysia, fell 20.86% to 249,411. These markets are Thailand's top sources of visitor arrivals; in 2004, they generated a combined total of 5.5 million arrivals, or 48% of that year's total.

- Although all six source markets (except Hong Kong) did show considerable increases in repeat visitors, the overall total was not enough to compensate for the sharp downturns in first timers. In the Northeast Asian countries, tour operators reported that massive publicity about the tsunami-related casualties had generated a major fear of spirits and ghosts haunting the beaches of Phuket.

- First-time visitors fell across the board, with the exception of Brunei, Laos and Saudi Arabia. First timers from Europe were down 19.13% to 703,568 and the Americas -5.68% to 202,393. They were also down from other key source markets like India (-3.08% to 119,553) and Australia (-19.05% to 100,726).

- The country was saved largely by strong growth in repeat visitors (+17.24% to 4,975,258). In addition to those leisure travellers who are familiar with Thailand and keep coming back, there was strong growth in convention delegates (+397% to 433,409). Business travellers totalled 711,091, a statistically stagnant 'growth' of 0.14% over January-September 2004.

In 2005, the TAT spent a lot of time, money and effort to prop up visitor arrivals, especially from China. A number of senior delegations visited China to generate interest, based on the 30th anniversary of the opening of bilateral diplomatic relations. An agreement was also signed with Chinese tour operators for tourism promotion including tactical advertising campaigns designed to generate quick-fix results.

The statistics being publicised are the 'positive' ones, such as arrivals at Bangkok international airport in the first quarter of 2006, which are showing strong growth over the same period of 2005.

Much will depend on the final arrivals tally from Malaysia, Thailand's top source market. In January-September 2005, arrivals totalled 988,675, a fall of 3.4% over the same period of 2004. The fact that Malaysian arrivals at Bangkok airport are up indicates that there has been a decline in overland arrivals via the southern border points.

Imtiaz Muqbil is executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire, an e-mailed feature and analysis service focusing on the Asia Pacific.

Bangkok Post

Martello are resposible for that new shopping centre, a bit like central in phuket. Does anyone know whats going on there, I havn't seen anymore news on it for a while.

How about some roads and decent sewer systems for Samui then. Why don't they address important issues that quality tourists demand? It's not more beauty pageants that are needed to draw in the tourists.

in which case I apologise, its just something I heard, are the two companys also not linked then. Am I worng on both counts?

I believe there are some very big problems with sabai thani, the problem relates to the land and so I have heard it was obtained or upgraded illegally which now means it isn't freehold but leasehold. I cannot confirm this 100%, it's just something I heard, I suggest you get yourself a good lawyer.

Also Martello is the same people.

The old British University Grant system was no different, a free hand out to the middle classes.

Unconditionally yes. But with this reward system only those who help the government recieve the perk, I doubt many the marchers at the Rallies will be seeing these scholarships.

The two are completely different and cannot be compared.

new place being built in lamai, IT centre, there are still some units left I believe.

Blah Chon is extremely tasty in my opinion. Try bbq a fish of around 3 kg, it tastes very similar to plaice. Delicate flavour, great with a spicy dipping sauce.

Oh no, Womble! Yet another crime against a farang! Call the neighbors! Alert the embassy! Run, run, RUN!!!

Fool, i'm not moaning about the death of a farang, i'm just pointing out how the police seem to again think a suspicious death must be suicide. My comments would have been exactly the same should the guy been thai or any other race for that matter. I also think ortopsies should be carried out independantly and not by the police. This may well be suicide, but there does seem to be some very hard to believe cases.

Remember the prisoners up north who all commited suicide with their own shoelaces?

Or the guy who tied his hands behind his back, put a hood on and somehow managed to shoot himself.

erm???

How many more times must we have unusual suspicious sounding deaths palmed off as suicides. What is the reason, stupidity, laziness to investigate?

In the past year some land has been reposessed in Phuket, and I believe it was linked to the new law.

Now it's starting to get interesting.

We all know that at the very least the EC and leading TRT figures involved in this scandal should be barred from any future involvement in politics. In any western country if found guilty they would almost certainly find themselves in prison, and rightly so.

The funny thing is TRT's downfall has been completely of it's own making, it seems they believe they are covered in teflon. Looking back historically to other corrupt regimes throughoutthe world, the endings are always explosive, nothing lasts forever.

Thaksin was extremely clever, and his manipulation of the checks and balances to serve his own ends was very well excecuted. In five years he managed to almost totally silence the media, more or less control the upper house, and put cronies into all the positions that could have made him accountable for his missdeeds.

I believe his biggest mistake was thinking he was untouchable. The arrogance of so many of his moves have become his undoing, for him the huge increase of shin was not enough, he had to have all that $$$ tax free, and that says it all really.

I think we are now seeing the end of Thaksin as a politician, in the long run this may not be a bad thing for the Thai Demorcratic system, people need to see what can happen when too much power is consolidated into one camp. The sad thing is the system to stop this was in place, the independant panels were there, but here people and their morals (or lack of) are easlily bought.

As long as those seeking a life in politics, are there only to further their own agendas and not those of the electorate, it will never change. Shame realy.