Baloo22

The vast majority of posters here are the same who seem to always miss the the issue and simply babble. While the tittle and topic are ripe for humor and parody, the fact is, this is an issue of rights. It is like freedom of speech, a rule by an employer that prevents someone from saying the F word in certain places or situations is not about appropriateness or morality, it is about the constitutional right to free speech. The NRA is pushing the legislature on this is as just another battlefield over our constitutional right to bear arms. No European can understand this because they don't have the same aversion to gov't control, many of them still believe that one particular person who pops out of one women's vag I nah verses another is somehow superior to all the rest of us. America is messed up in many ways, but its still the freest country in the world due to our constitution that has only needed 27 amendments in 223 years...not like Thailand that has had 18 different constitutions in just 80yrs.

Americans have a very skewed concept of "rights". There is absolutely no way that carrying a lethal weapon - gun, knife, grenade, whatever - can be described as a "right" in anyone's eyes other than a republican american. Many countries have strict controls on guns and the people arguably feel more secure than the average paranoid republican american.

Let's get it clear - there is no problem if you want to own a hunting rifle in UK - but you will be interviewed by the police and your records checked extensively. You can own a handgun in UK, if you satisfy the authorities about your intent (usually target practice at a recognised range). In UK you are required to keep your firearm concealed when in a public place, but that is to reduce the possibilty of theft and to decrease the public alarm factor.

I'm sure that's why I hear so many Brits complaining about violent crimes in their cities in the UK. And, also read so many Brits on this board complaining about violent crime in their cities in the UK. I'm sure that the criminals in the UK also follow all those "may I please, Guv?" rules that you enumerate.

You may enjoy begging your master's permission to own a firearm for your own use. Keep right on begging if you like. When I'm back home in the U.S.A, I'll stick to standing up on my own two feet and claiming my rights as a U.S. citizen.

The vast majority of posters here are the same who seem to always miss the the issue and simply babble. While the tittle and topic are ripe for humor and parody, the fact is, this is an issue of rights. It is like freedom of speech, a rule by an employer that prevents someone from saying the F word in certain places or situations is not about appropriateness or morality, it is about the constitutional right to free speech. The NRA is pushing the legislature on this is as just another battlefield over our constitutional right to bear arms. No European can understand this because they don't have the same aversion to gov't control, many of them still believe that one particular person who pops out of one women's vag I nah verses another is somehow superior to all the rest of us. America is messed up in many ways, but its still the freest country in the world due to our constitution that has only needed 27 amendments in 223 years...not like Thailand that has had 18 different constitutions in just 80yrs.

Americans have a very skewed concept of "rights". There is absolutely no way that carrying a lethal weapon - gun, knife, grenade, whatever - can be described as a "right" in anyone's eyes other than a republican american. Many countries have strict controls on guns and the people arguably feel more secure than the average paranoid republican american.

Let's get it clear - there is no problem if you want to own a hunting rifle in UK - but you will be interviewed by the police and your records checked extensively. You can own a handgun in UK, if you satisfy the authorities about your intent (usually target practice at a recognised range). In UK you are required to keep your firearm concealed when in a public place, but that is to reduce the possibilty of theft and to decrease the public alarm factor.

I'm sure that's why I hear so many Brits complaining about violent crimes in their cities in the UK. And, also read so many Brits on this board complaining about violent crime in their cities in the UK. I'm sure that the criminals in the UK also follow all those "may I please, Guv?" rules that you enumerate.

You may enjoy begging your master's permission to own a firearm for your own use. Keep right on begging if you like. When I'm back home in the U.S.A, I'll stick to standing up on my own two feet and claiming my rights as a U.S. citizen.

Well, at least Mr. Abhisit is staying put, and fighting the charges. Unlike the fleeing Coward Boy in Dubai.

Also, I seem to have missed the announcement by DSI of their charges against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over the deaths of eighty-plus innocent people in the Tak Bai incident. Has anyone heard of the DSI announcing those charges??

First; I am staying near Nakornping Condo on Ratchaphuek Road. I agree with LastGarrison in that it is a nice area. I like this (the North-West) part of Chiang Mai.

Second; I don't know how locked-in you are to visiting during February and March but, if possible, I would avoid visiting here during those two months. Those are the two months of the "smoky season". They have a big problem with smoke pollution up here during February and March. The farmers burn off their fields, mushroom gatherers burn the forest undergrowth (apparently it helps the mushrooms grow after the rains start), and everybody else is burning leaves, trash, and whatever else they want to burn.

I arrived here in Chiang Mai early March this year and many days you could barely see the sun. Some days were so bad my eyes would be burning after a short time outside. And it was even worse further north in Chiang Rai. They had multiple airline flights into Chiang Rai cancelled because of the smoke "haze". It started to clear up the first part of April.

I've met a few residents here that always plan trips and vacations specifically during that Feb-Mar timeframe. I have already made plans to be elsewhere by the start of February 2013.

Corruption will never be completely eradicated - there's still plenty of it in developed countries - but when it is endemic (as it is here) it can be reduced. Blaming newspapers is just shooting the messenger as they, like any whistleblower here, have to contend with the defamation laws which are used by the powerful to silence the ordinary person. Not only that, but too many who speak out are permanently silenced.

I do have a quick fix but Smedly's post is the only one that actually addresses the issue. To it I would add an appointed group to run the country with a mandate to tackle corruption by setting laws and bodies with teeth as well as decriminalising the defamation law. Give them a fixed term to do their job and follow it with an election.

Apologizing for the newspapers "trapped" in the defamation of character laws is turning your back on the issue. It is up to the newspapers to find a way around this through investigative truth. Truth is the defense against defamation and slander - truth - that is a newspaper's drumbeat.

"Apologizing for the newspapers"?? OK!

Are you volunteering to go to jail when you try your "truth is the defense" strategy? Are you volunteering to get shot when you foul up some big-wig's land scheme? It's easy to sit on a message board and say what reporters in Thailand should be doing. Not so easy to suffer the consequences from the corrupt police, corrupt courts, and hired thugs.

He is most likely a one hit wonder and we will never hear about him again.

100% Correct! This "Gangnam Style" is reminds me of the "Macarena" back in 1995-96. You couldn't go 30 minutes without hearing that song somewhere!

Five years after that you couldn't find anyone who could even tell you who sang the song! Same with this PSYco.

I have had a regular savings account with an ATM card with Kasikorn Bank since 2010. Been satisfied with them. I initially chose Kasikorn based on the number of their ATMs that I had noticed all over the place. You can get a debit card with them if you want but I chose to just get the ATM card. Have done several wire transfers with no problems. Have internet/web access to my account. Use it to pay into my cell phone account.

Whichever bank you choose, I suggest that you go to the largest or "main" branch of that bank in your area to open your account. It's more likely that they will be familiar with opening an account for a foreigner.

I've had a number of dental cleanings done here in Thailand. In my experience, the "normal" cleaning is done using some sort of ultrasonic tool, dental floss, and also polishing. The dentists normally do not do the sort of scraping and "deep" under the gums cleaning that the OP is referring to. To get that type of dental cleaning that includes "scaling and root planing" you need to specifically request it.

I recommend that you go to the dental office in person to make your appointment and take the time to make clear (politely and patiently!) what kind of cleaning you want done. Use terms like "root planing" and "periodontal cleaning". They will then schedule the additional time that it will take to do the type of cleaning you want done. I've done it this way and it worked out well.

BANGKOK, 8 December 2012 (NNT) - Deputy Prime Minister Police Captain Chalerm Yubamrung has affirmed yesterday that Thailand is not a country of terrorism after it was ranked eighth in the global terrorism index by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Police Captain Chalerm downplayed the ranking by the US agency and attributed the misunderstanding to recent political protests in the country. He expressed confidence towards the operation of immigration police, the special branch police and other security units.

Forgetting 'misunderstandings' and definitions of what or what doesn't constitute terrorism for a moment, this self appointed expert on internal security and insurgencies should really get out more.

I doubt that the the dead, injured and bereaved see this mess as a 'misunderstanding', so I suggest that Police Captain Chalerm starts with an extended trip to Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat to see the 'misunderstanding' for himself.

this man needs a shock collar installed on his person. When he starts spouting nonsense, hit him with a jolt to try to get his brain and mouth in step with reality.

Think of it another way- "spin time!"

An arrogant foreign nation ranks some unflattering index, such as Corruption, Crime, Judicial Killings and Thailand happens to make the short list. Just bump and twist: Yes there is corruption in every country; however, Thailand has made remarkable progress and will eliminate that short comming by _____ (fill in the date.) Plays well with the local voters and a lot of the gentle folk on Thai Visa (Works super well in the USA where that little evasion tactic was invented) Why bother reporting this stuff? The US would be Thailands best budd if it were granted a military base and tourists will continue to come here in ever increasing numbers.

So lets all join hands and sing "I Love the Way You Lie"

I had doubts that this "Institute for Economics and Peace" was a "US agency" so I looked it up. My doubts were valid. The Wikipedia page for this organization states:

"The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP),^[1] chaired by entrepreneur Steve Killelea,^[2] is a global non-profit research organization headquartered in Sydney, Australia with a branch in New York."

The organizations webpage states: "The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization dedicated to promoting a better understanding of the social and economic factors that develop a more peaceful society."

This organization is NOT a "US agency" or part of the U.S. government!

Just rode the bus yesterday from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai. Spotted several fires that looked like the farmer was simply burning off the rice stubble/residue.

Question for those that know more about rice farming here; Why don't they just plow the crop residue back into the soil? I'm not a farmer but I always understood that when you plow the crop residue back into the soil it improves the soil. Is it the cost or effort of plowing again?

It is cost. Ploughing costs money either by contracting the job out to somebody else or using your own equipment will incur a fuel cost. Just leaving it means a bigger job when the field is to be resown.

Thanks, Briggsy!

Just rode the bus yesterday from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai. Spotted several fires that looked like the farmer was simply burning off the rice stubble/residue.

Question for those that know more about rice farming here; Why don't they just plow the crop residue back into the soil? I'm not a farmer but I always understood that when you plow the crop residue back into the soil it improves the soil. Is it the cost or effort of plowing again?

I have not been in Jomtien since February so some of these may have gone out of business or moved or whatever. When I lived in Jomtien these places were my favorites.

For Thai food - Eagle House Restaurant on Soi 4 off Jomtien Beach Road. Good Thai food and good portions. Best Pat Priow Wan Gai (Sweet and Sour Chicken) I have ever had!

For Burgers - 1921 Restaurant on Thap Phraya road after it turns towards the sea. Almost to the point where it becomes Jomtien Beach Road. Here it is on Pattaya Photo Guide. It is new so it does not show on the photo but it is located where the Fuji Photo place used to be.

For Italian Food - Trattoria Italiana on the east side of Thap Phraya in the same parking lot as Foodland Supermarket. See PhotoGuide. Great Italian food! Never had a bad meal or bad service there. At nighttime it's usually packed and plenty of Italians eat there. (I don't speak Italian but I can usually recognize it.)

For Mexican Food - Sam's Mexican and American Grill on Jomtien Plaza Road. A little difficult to find. It is in Soi "Jomtien Plaza", Jomtien. If coming south from Pattaya,don't turn right towards Jomtien beach but go straight past the Hanuman Statue for about 80-100m and turn right (directly opposite Dine from 99 baht). That's Jomtien Plaza. Sam's is almost at the end and is on the right-hand side.

Bistro Oscar in Jomtien had an excellent brunch buffet from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm daily. It is in the Jomtien Complex and located directly across Thapraya road from View Talay 2. Come straight out of View Talay 2, cross the road and you are there. I would go there for breakfast at least twice a week. It’s not your standard “breakfast buffet” but more like brunch. The food quality and service is excellent. The cost was 199 baht (tax included). Some may consider that high but, IMO, you get what you pay for!

Perhaps my contribution is a bit brrrrrrr...... when you think you know the rules, they change them. Why this visa issue all the time? Countries like Cambodia are very simple with providing visa. Just PAY 260 US to a visa office and the next day you have a year visa. No questions, No forms, No passphotos. Just hand in your passport and 260 US.

I would gladly pay more to the Thai Government, if I can simply have a new visa in my own province. ALL that trouble and being annoyed. Even to stamp every 3 months is a robbery. Thousants of waist Thai Bath, which I better can give to the Thai Officials, then waist it on other country visas, fuell, food and a stay overnight somewhere on the trip.

Have fun

The money spent may be a waste for you but it's a plus for the Thai economy. Imagine how many people are employed arranging these visa and border runs and add all the van drivers also. Lots of bus tickets purchased also. The food, fuel and, sometimes, lodging purchased also means "ka-ching" for the economy! Throughout Thailand the jobs provided by the visa run/border run business number in the hundreds at least (maybe thousand plus!), and the economic ripple effect means thousands more benefit.

I suspect that this is no accident!

Anyone expecting the type of investigative journalism that is routine in the western world is going to have to wait a while. Among other things, the defamation laws are both civil and criminal. Those laws are used as a club to discourage and smother any such investigative reporting. The real purpose the defamation laws are to protect the big people, the "high-class", from reporting that may impact them or their activities.

A journalist by the name Erika Fry learned that lesson when, working for a major newspaper here, she did a news story on a Thai official that had been accused of plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation. Take a read of "Escape From Thailand" and "Escape from Thailand: Epilogue" from the Columbia Journalism Review. What happened to Erika Fry is the result of her investigative reporting on someone not really that high up in the "pu yai" status.

When a journalist does some damage to or angers one of the real biggies, they have a good chance of ending up like Wisut "Ae" Tangwittayaporn from Phuket. "Newspaper reporter shot, killed in Thailand"

Ordinarily, this is what newspapers do anyway. Investigate and discovering this type of thing should be right up their street.

2OzMick - my point exactly. The opposition should've come up with some more or less legit way of getting the evidence - apart from sending a petition to the Chinese Embassy, which I'm quite sure went straight into the bin. Now they made <deleted> of themselves, although the public might not understand this.

2Thai at Heart - have you heard about any Thai official who stepped down from the office due to results of media investigations? After all, I've spent some time yesterday comparing The Nation's English publications with the actual live recordings of the Parliament proceedings described in the newspaper and I've found some interesting repeating patters...

This requires.creating a critical mass. Since the nationnews, the dems, tge army plus the dems industrial backers would all like to see the back ptp, don't tell me they can't all co_ordinate to make the evidence so large that no one can get out of it. They need to go after each big cheese and build something against yinhluck, chalerm and the other big wigs.

it won't be pretty, but it isn't as though that bunch don't know the avenues ptp use to channel money around and cover their ass.

They've been at it for years themselves.

If they want to know what us going on in China, the boss of CP probably knows better than the Chinese premier. Oil, go to Shell, that i's populated with na Ayttayas who despise ptt. Turn land officers for evidence, get the tax people and the banks, lest we forget bangkok bank has a democrat mp who was front and centre with the pad many times.

The info is out there, they just have to get it.... You think every ptp mp loves thaksin? how did they turn newin. For the love of the country? Don't make me laugh.

Everyone will spill their guts with the right push.

I'm certain that they don't want to open up a bunch of closet doors at random. They know the problem with opening closet doors; You may expose more than just the skeleton that you were looking for. And I'm sure that a lot of the Democrats have skeletons in a lot of closets also.

Since hundreds of potential first-time Phuket guests will be reading this - anyone have some advice on what transport to take when arriving in Phuket?

Assuming one doesn't want to rent a car that is.

You might ask your hotel if they can arrange a reliable airport pickup for you. I visited Phuket for the first time this July. Stayed at a hotel that hotel that included an airport pickup if you were staying at least three nights. Worked fine. The plane was late landing because of weather (thunderstorm) over the airport. Even so, the guy was there waiting for me.

I ran across the website of one hotel on Phuket that insist that they arrange your airport pickup if you reserve a room with them. They have had so many of their guests arrive at the airport, get a taxi and then be told by the taxi that their hotel is now closed, burnt down, and so on. And the taxi driver just happens to know of a really nice hotel for them! Even some that threatened the passengers.

Rice millers and investors, as usual, skim off most of the money from this scheme, which is paid for by taxpayers.

Investors, who exactly are they. Foreign or domestic ?

I am not sure if it is possible but an audit of this whole scheme could prove to be very revealing as to where exactly the funds finish up and also why those calling the shots insist it continues.

Perhaps I'm just being pessimistic, but I see three options for an "an audit of this whole scheme":

Option 1: It never happens.

Option 2: An "audit" is done by a special government commission with members carefully selected by the Pheu Thai party.

Option 3: An "audit" is done by the Shinawatra Auditing Company, Ltd.

Shows who's actually in charge here. (And in charge in ....UK, Mexico, Canada, all of Western Europe, most of Eastern Europe.....need I go on?)

I'd think in the UK the police would be the last to be told security arrangements. They couldn't even manage to keep Rupert from getting a pie in the face when testifying before a Parliamentary Committee and they won't even react when called by The Palace.

Early on Friday morning, July 9, 1982, Queen Elizabeth II woke to find a strange man sitting at the end of her bed. The man, dressed in jeans and a dirty T-shirt, was cradling a broken ashtray and dripping blood onto the royal linens from a lacerated hand. The Queen kept calm and picked up the phone from her bedside table. She asked the operator at the palace switchboard to summon the police. Though the operator did pass the message to the police, the police didn't respond.

http://history1900s....ensintruder.htm

Just read that! Amazing! The Queen sure can keep her cool when needed.

Don't automatically assume that the Secret Service and White House security are any better. It was just in 2009 that an uninvited couple on nobody's access list managed to stroll right on in to a White House state dinner with President Obama and the Prime Minister of India! Even got to shake the Presidents hand. And, apparently, the Secret Service did not even find out about it until, after the event, one of the party crashers made some Facebook postings about it.

Washington Post: Secret Service takes blame for uninvited couple's access to White House

"In the end, we'll have to ask the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to order the dismantling of this building. It's in violation of the laws,"

Right! That will happen right after the dismantling of the View Talay 7 condo building in Jomtien!

In other words, right after half past never!